Throughout the novel, it becomes clear that Siddhartha’s journey towards self-realization and enlightenment are driven just as much by external influences and his tensions with society as his internal realizations and development. Even within the first chapter, Siddhartha’s unease towards, and dissatisfaction with, the societal expectations and provided way of life that comes with being a Brahman’s son, are what drives him to take the first crucial steps in his liminal journey and begin seeking the good life. With his “discontent” and all that had at this point been “revealed” to him, Siddhartha began to wonder if “there was another way… [worth] looking for,” a way could allow him to find his “own self” and allow his “spirit” to be “content,” since he was not finding fulfillment at home with his father. (Hesse, Kindle Edition, Location 198)
Just as Siddhartha’s…show more content… With Govinda, as a Samana, Siddhartha pursues and reaches his goal of “[becoming] empty,” and “[finding] tranquility,” allowing his mind to become open through meditation and purging “every desire” or “urge” from within himself (Hesse, Kindle Edition, Location 318), yet he still finds that he has not found the “path” to “enlightenment” that he seeks, and sees that many of the older Samanas still “[have] not reached the nirvana,” and finds himself once again searching for a way to find the meaning he seeks (Hesse, Kindle Edition, Location 383). A similar sense of unfulfillment continues to follow Siddhartha throughout the novel, with each community or part of society that he surrounds himself with
