Finding Meaning In Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha

The book Siddhartha is about a young man who goes on a journey to find his true meaning in life and to find enlightenment. It takes him a while to realize his purpose in life but eventually finds it through a ferryman. In the book, Siddhartha experiences two forms of suffering:physical and mental. He goes through the physical pain of the Samaras but also passes through the mental pain of finding his way and dealing with his son. He also finds joy in his son and being enlightened. Throughout the book, it is a constant roller coaster of Siddhartha experiencing joy but then also enduring suffering. As a young boy, Siddhartha had everything. "There was happiness in his father's heart because of his son who was intelligent and thirsty for knowledge; he saw him growing up to be a great learned man, a priest, a prince among Brahmins" (Hesse 4). It was until Siddhartha asked his father to leave his home and go out on his own. Siddhartha was confident he would find his true desire. Along with this journey, Siddhartha encounters many people/groups who try to teach him enlightenment, but he did not realize the suffering that would go along with this trip. As the

At first, his son doesn't say anything to him. He wants nothing to do with him. Although Siddhartha continually tries to interact with him, the son wants no part in a relationship with him. The son was more interested in the city, and he wanted to live how he used to live back when his mother was alive. "As time passed and the boy remained unfriendly and sulky, when he proved arrogant and defiant, when he would do no work, when he showed no respect to the old people and robbed Vasudeva's fruit trees, Siddhartha began to realize that no happiness and peace has come to his son, only sorrow and trouble" (Hesse 118). Siddhartha didn't care that his son was unhappy, he was just happy that he was there with