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Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

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I, Jackie Odyniec have grown up in Madison, Connecticut and have lived here my whole life. Living in such a prestigious town has made me realize how fortunate I am. I have possessions that people would dream of, and the only way I was able to discover this was by traveling outside of the U.S. By reflecting off my travels, I have come to the conclusion that my life is similar to Siddhartha’s, the main character in Herman Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha. As Siddhartha splits from his family to find himself by traveling, I also have found out more about myself through traveling. In a modern day perspective, I believe Siddhartha and I have a similar upbringing. Living in such a privileged town as Madison, there are many people who can offer guidance …show more content…

I felt the same when I was visiting in the Bahamas. Siddhartha soon realized that he had to listen and play by the rules of the Samanas, which he was not fond of. He soon left and explained, “No one will ever attain redemption through doctrine! Never, O Venerable One, will you be able to convey in words and show and say through your teachings what happened to you in the hour of your enlightenment” (30). Siddhartha’s situation is similar to mine when my family and I first declined an offer by a salesperson to rent a beach chair in the Bahamas. As we walked deeper into the beach, we changed our minds and decided to rent a chair. Once we had the chair in our possession, we then watched in disbelief as a fight broke out between the 1st and 2nd salesmen. My family and I then realized how different the Bahamas was from small, quaint, Madison, Connecticut. What I now discovered was how important it was to rent out as many chairs as possible. The salesmen were solely focused on renting out plastic beach chairs to tourists. Whereas, where I live, those who work at the beach are not in great need and they are most concerned with who has the newest iPhone. That is precisely why I picked the wave to symbolize myself. After this experience, I have come to the conclusion that everyone needs to relax, and go with the flow. It does not matter what anyone has because the next person will

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