Herman Hesse's 1922 novel Siddhartha follows the spiritual journey of the title character as he seeks enlightenment. Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, leaves his wealthy family to join ascetic Samanas and later encounters Buddha, though he continues his solitary search. He experiences worldly pleasures as a merchant before finding peace as a ferryman's apprentice, learning from the river. In the end, Siddhartha achieves enlightenment by accepting his present circumstances rather than desiring more.

1. Siddhartha
By Herman Hesse

2. The Author
Herman Hesse was born in 1877 in Germany.
In 1911 he traveled to India, and then he moved to
Switzerland.
One of his most appreciated books, Siddhartha, was
published in 1922.
In 1946 he received a Nobel prize for his work in
literature.

3. The Plot
• Siddhartha is a boy from a wealthy Brahman family but, as he gets older, he
begins to think that the elders of his community have nothing more to teach
him so, along with his best friend Govinda, he goes to live with the Samanas.
• For three years Siddhartha and his friend learn from them how to break free of
their body’s limits, until they hear rumors about a holy man that teaches a new
doctrine. The two young and curious boys decide to hear what “Gotama” has
to teach.
• Govinda is impressed by this man but Siddhartha, despite also being impressed
by Gotama and his new doctrine, decides that he will never follow a doctrine
and that he will find peace by himself.
• While traveling, Siddhartha meets Kamala, a beautiful courtesan, and wants to
learn the “art of love” from her, but she refuses him because he’s not rich.

4. The Plot
• Siddhartha then becomes a wealthy merchant and he is accepted by Kamala.
At the beginning, money and wealth aren’t a big concern for Siddhartha but
then he starts to become greedy and he starts to hate himself for what he has
become, so one day he runs away from his expensive house.
• After a profound moral crisis he meets Vasudeva, a ferryman, and becomes his
apprentice. Siddhartha learns to hear the river’s voice thanks to Vasudeva and
becomes wiser and wiser.
• After many years Siddhartha meets his son by Kamala. When his son gets older
Siddhartha at first wants him to stay with him, but when he finally lets him go,
he reaches the enlightenment he was looking for his hole life.

5. My opinion
This book was a very interesting read, because it is very
different and more profound than anything else I’ve
ever read. The lesson I took from it, is that we can only
reach enlightenment with what we have and not by
wanting more, and that we shouldn’t look for happiness
in material things but into ourselves.

6. My opinion
This book was a very interesting read, because it is very
different and more profound than anything else I’ve
ever read. The lesson I took from it, is that we can only
reach enlightenment with what we have and not by
wanting more, and that we shouldn’t look for happiness
in material things but into ourselves.