A Discussion of Religious Themes in Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha.
This paper addresses some of the most complex questions of the human condition: the nature of desire, the meaning of life and the justification of the ways of God to man. Ultimately, Hesse argues that spirituality cannot be divorced from humanity; that one cannot discover the meaning of life by cutting ourselves our from life through reflection and meditation. Rather, it is only by immersing oneself in love for the universe that one can truly find peace. The context for Hesse's explorations of these spiritual themes is ancient India at the time of the Buddha. 5.5 pgs. 12b. 1b.