Samsara and Siddhartha: Putting Together the Puzzle Anonymous 9th Grade

Buddhism began with a man named Siddhartha Gautama. Over two thousand years later, Herman Hesse wrote a story with a protagonist who also happens to be named Siddhartha. The shared name was no coincidence as Hesse’s novel tells the tale of a man and his journey to enlightenment. In the novel, called Siddhartha, the main character Siddhartha's elegant and allegorical journey resembles the Buddhist and Hindu concept called Samsara, or the endless cycle of rebirth. Siddhartha’s journey mirrors Samsara because he is always questioning himself and changing his lifestyle, and as a result his life is like a cycle, and metaphorically, he keeps being reborn. Throughout the novel, the protagonist realizes he must piece together all of his metaphorical lives to complete the puzzle and find the state of enlightenment and the escape of Samsara he so badly desires.

Samsara-the Buddhist and Hindu belief of there being a cycle of rebirth-is illustrated in the novel Siddhartha at many points of the book. Near the start of the book, Siddhartha attempts to convince his father to let him join the ascetics. As he stands vigil waiting for his father to cave in to his demands and let him leave the Brahmin practice, his father sees him standing and...