Siddartha Chapters 1-6 Reflection

Thus far in Siddartha, it can be easily seen that Siddartha is a person of conviction. When he gets an idea, he is one-hundred percent behind it and follows it until another idea comes along. For example, one day, basically out of the blew, Siddartha decides he wants to become a Samana. He will not be deterred and waits, standing, outside his father's house all night, until he is blessed. The same goes for when he finally quits his Samana group to seek out the Buddha, and when he refuses to become one of The Sublime One's followers. All of these decisions are stemmed from his insatiable spirit. He learns the ways of many groups very quickly. So quickly, in fact, he gets bored with one thing and must move on in an attempt to find some spiritual fulfillment. This can come across as arrogant in some parts, though. For instance, Siddartha, after hearing but one of Buddha's 'teaching sessions,' he says that he has learned everything he can from the Buddha, who is the only one in the world who has actually achieved what Siddartha is seeking. But he thinks this is the wrong way to handle it, and so moves on.

Another characteristic I have observed of Siddartha is a sort of forgetfulness. He is forgetful in the way that he throws previous convictions aside in new situations. There are two prime examples of this. One is when he completely swears off of desire and the senses, but then not much later he uses his senses, and feels desire. The diction of the author makes this very noticeable, and a bit annoying, as Siddartha seems to be one who doesn't back up one's words. He becomes not credible (not incredible) because of this, in my mind. The other example, is how, right after his encounter with the Sukyamuni, he declares that he will not be dragged down by any teachers or doctrines. He will be his own teacher and pupil. Yet once he comes to the city, he actively seeks out Kamala as a teacher. Siddartha, still young and a bit childish (which Siddartha calls all normal people in the world), jumps around through conflicting ideas very often. He wants to be abnormal, more spiritual, but he is not there yet. He is a "flip-flopper" right now and needs to settle into a single goal. I predict this will happen, but it will be interesting to see what pushes him to the final stage of his journey. And once, we get there, Siddartha might be looking for a completely different thing than he is right now.