Steppenwolf
Harry Haller is the protagonist of the novel, and the image of his character is the central one. Harry is portrayed as “not a sociable man”, who “lived by himself very quietly”. Harry is “a real wolf of the Steppes, a strange, wild, shy—very shy—being from another world” – this is how his inner world is presented. Harry’s appearance is of no less importance as to the understanding of his character, and that is how his outlook is depicted – “he wore a fashionable clothes and was clean-shaven, and his cropped head showed here and there a streak of grey”. “Above all, his face pleased, in spite of the foreign air it had”. The impression of curiosity and alienation brings together the image of Haller with the traditional image of a romantic hero. Hesse deliberately emphasizes this, he has repeatedly noted that, in his opinion, the fundamental mood of romanticism is a feeling of abandonment and homelessness.
The smell of coziness
When Harry Haller enters the Aunt’s rooms, the first his words were "Oh, it smells good here". The Aunt is a representative of the bourgeois society, and her rooms give an impression "of cleanliness and good order, of comfort and respectability”. Harry is positively “pleased” by this, and as the Aunt later assumes “he looks as if he weren't used to that and missed it". Coziness is a thing which every soul yearns for. The image of the order and good organization of the landlady, which is opposed to the Harry's disordered and unmeasured life, shows that he really belongs to the “other world”. The image depicts that no matter what person’s beliefs might be, there are things that every human needs – peace and coziness.
The statement cast by the glance
Once a famous philosopher and cultural historian was supposed to make a report in the assembly hall of the university, and the narrator managed to persuade Harry to listen to this report. Though the lecture was supposed to be a success, many listeners “were disappointed by the rather dapper appearance and conceited air” of the philosopher. At that moment “the Steppenwolf threw a quick look…an unforgettable and frightful look which spoke volumes”. His gaze not only criticized the speaker “annihilating the famous man with its delicate but crushing irony”. It was more sad than ironical, “it was indeed utterly and hopelessly sad; it conveyed a quiet despair, born partly of conviction, partly of a mode of thought which had become habitual with him”. It said: "See what monkeys we are! Look, such is man!" and at once any celebrity, any mind, any achievements of the spirit, any human efforts to greatness and longevity went to dust. The image shows the depth of Harry’s thinking.
