Throughout his entire journey, he was never a follower and always made his own choices, despite what his friends or family wanted him to do. From the very beginning, he knew he did not want to have life explained to him by someone who had already experienced it; he wanted to experience it himself and gain the wisdom during his journey. This is apparent at the beginning of the novella when Siddhartha says to Govinda: "I have become distrustful of teachings and learning and that I have little faith in words that come to us from teachers" (Hesse 18). There were too many different ideas and philosophies being taught and Siddhartha didn't know which to follow, so he decided to be his own teacher. Choosing to experience life for himself made him a wiser and stronger person and ultimately lead him to reach