The Perfect Smile and its Significance in Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha Anonymous 9th Grade

Symbolism is used commonly as a tool to express theme in Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. The novel details the titular character’s search for enlightenment through experience and wisdom. It is when Siddhartha sees the smile of the Buddha that he recognizes enlightenment in someone for the first time. The smile becomes a motif of the book, seen again and again. This symbol of inner peace, wisdom, and happiness reflects Hesse’s theme of enlightenment and Siddhartha’s progress towards enlightenment.

The smile seen in Siddhartha's journey reflects the inner peace of its wearer. Siddartha does not leave his home until his restlessness grows unbearable; when “his soul [is] not at peace” (Hesse 5). His hunger for inner peace does not stop with the Samanas, so he moves on again. When Siddhartha sees the Buddha for the first time, he is able to pick him out of the crowd by the fact that “his peaceful countenance [is] neither happy nor sad. He [seems] to be smiling gently inwardly” (Hesse 27). Siddhartha feels an outpouring of love for the Buddha, because the Buddha has the inner peace that Siddhartha has been seeking. Although Siddhartha cannot learn from the Buddha’s words, he takes note in the peaceful acceptance the Buddha displays in his...