Siddhartha
by Hermann Hesse
Study Guide
name: ______
Chapter 1 – The Brahmin’s Son
VOCABULARY:
- ablutions (n) – a washing of the body as part of a religious ceremony
- ascetic (n) – a person who dedicates himself to an extremely simple life, practicing extreme self-denial, abstaining from normal pleasures of life
- Atman – the universal soul from which all individual souls derive and to which they all return to
- avaricious (adj) -
- Brahman –
- Brahmin –
- disillusionment (n) – the freeing from idealistic beliefs (can be depressing!)
- emanate (v) – to flow out or come forth from a source of origin
- insatiable (adj) – unable to satiated; incapable of being satisfied (“He has an insatiable thirst for knowledge.”)
- jackals (n) – wild, scavenging dogs that hunt in packs
- Om – a mantra or repeated word in meditation
1) Why is Siddhartha unhappy? Why is his spirit like a “waiting vessel”?
2) Why is Govinda willing to follow him? Describe his relationship with Siddhartha.
3) How are the Samanas described? From his description, how does the author feel about them?
4) How did Siddhartha convince his father? Why didn’t Siddhartha just leave?
5) Why, do you suppose, Siddhartha’s mother doesn’t have more of a role in the decision?
Chapter 2 – With the Samanas
VOCABULARY:
- respite (n) – a delay in time, temporary relief
- Samanas (n) -
- Vedas (n) –
- Nirvana (n) -
1) How does Siddhartha act when he is with the Samanas?
2) What is his goal? What happens when he reaches that goal?
3) How does Siddhartha meditate?
4) What frustrates Siddhartha?
5) Complete the quote: “I could have learned more quickly and easily ______
______.” (Page ______)
a. Explain this.
6) What does Siddhartha do with the oldest Samana? What does that feat show?
Chapter 3 – Gotama
VOCABULARY:
- abode (n) – a home
- equanimity (n) – the quality of having an even heart and mind; mental and emotional stability
- illustrious (adj) – glowing, shining, emitting light
- imperturbable (adj) – incapable of being upset or agitated; calm
- renounce (v) – to give up voluntarily
1) How is Gotama different from the Samanas?
2) How do they recognize Gotama?
3) Why does Govinda choose to join him? Why won’t Siddhartha join him?
4) According to Siddhartha, how will he find enlightenment?
5) Gotama asks Siddhartha if his, Gotama’s, followers will also find enlightenment. Siddhartha dodges this question. How?
6) What is the “flaw” Siddhartha finds in Gotama’s teaching? Explain. (pg. 26)
7) What has the Buddha robbed from Siddhartha? What has he given Siddhartha?
8) Has Siddhartha progressed in his search by the end of chapter 3? Explain.
Chapter 4 – Awakening
1) What does Siddhartha decide to study? How is that the one field he has been ignorant in?
2) Why does Siddhartha feel an “icy chill”? He compares himself to a star. How is that so?
3) How is Siddhartha different now?
4) What is the “Self”? Why has it occupied Siddhartha so?
5) When Siddhartha “awakes” from his dream, what does he see for the first time? Explain this.
Part Two
Chapter 5 - Kamala
VOCABULARY:
- apt (adj) – intelligent; quick to learn
- ardent (adj) - passionate
- courtesan (n) – a prostitute that associates with noblemen and men of wealth
- indolent (adj) – slothful, lazy
- subservient (adj) – serving or acting in a servant-like manner; servile
1) In the beginning of the chapter, Siddhartha sees the world in a new, fresh way. Why? (Why can he see the world now, when he could not really see it before?)
2) Complete the quote (sentence): “To obey no other external command, ______, ______- ______. Nothing else was necessary.” (Page ______)
a. What does this quote mean?
3) What does Siddhartha see in his dream in the ferryman’s straw hut? What might be the symbolic value of this image in his dream?
4) The ferryman that Siddhartha meets tells him that “One can learn much from a river” (40). Shortly thereafter, the ferryman expresses what he has indeed learned from the river. Quote what the ferryman says regarding the river’s teachings.
5) Why does Siddhartha NOT make love (“ascend the tree”) to the first woman that he comes across in the village? Quote the line that explains why he does not engage in love making with her. (Page ______)
Sedan Chair
6) Describe the beautiful woman in the sedan chair that Siddhartha sees as he travels further into the village. Quote from the text. What does this woman look like? (Page ______)
7) Why does Siddhartha say to Kamala that “Never again will I lower my eyes when I meet a beautiful woman” (44)? What do his words indicate about the change in Siddhartha’s character and life path?
a. What does he want to learn from Kamala?
8) What does Kamala tell Siddhartha that he needs in order to receive any instruction from her?
9) In this chapter, Siddhartha announces to Kamala, on numerous occasions, that he can do three specific things, and he asserts that he can do these three things well. What three skills does Siddhartha know that he possesses?
10) Siddhartha has great luck with the beautiful and wealthy courtesan, Kamala, though he is but a dirty, thin, disheveled Samana from the woods. Why do you think he has such luck?
11) Who is Kamaswami? Explore the meaning within the name.
12) Siddhartha compares himself to a stone. Explain.
Chapter 6 – Amongst the People
VOCABULARY:
- equanimity (n) –
- insatiable (adj) –
- prudent (adj) –
- reproach (v) – to find fault with a person, to blame
- servile (adj) –
- supple (adj) – responsive and quickly adaptable in mental action
1) How does Siddhartha take control of the interview?
2) For all of his holy skills (and not merchant skills), in the end, why does Kamaswami hire him?
3) Kamala had warned Siddhartha to make sure that Kamaswami treats Siddhartha as his ______. (pg 49)
a. Does Siddhartha heed Kamala’s advice?
4) In your own words and thoughtfully, what did Kamala teach him?
5) What makes Siddhartha good at business? Why might he be an excellent partner for Kamaswami?
6) What does Siddhartha’s four day trip to the village show about him? How could that be considered “good” business?
7) What does Siddhartha’s inner voice say? How is life “flowing past” him?
8) What do you suppose a Samana heart is?
9) How are Siddhartha and Kamala similar?
Chapter 7 – Samsara
VOCABULARY:
- disillusionment (n) –
- insipid (adj) – boring and empty (“He has an insipid personality.”)
1) Does Siddhartha have a bad life? What is good about it?
2) What had Siddhartha learned “amongst the people”?
3) What happened when the property finally became a chain and a burden?
4) How does his dice playing echo his real life?
5) What was his Kamala dream about?
6) What was the Bird dream about? What does it mean?
7) Why does he feel dead?
8) Why is it important that Kamala is pregnant? Explain.
Chapter 8 – By the River
VOCABULARY:
- countenance (n) – the appearance/expression of the face
- pilgrimage (n) – a long journey made to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion
- transitory (adj) – not eternal; lasting only a short time
1) Why does Siddhartha wish to kill himself?
2) What is the tone of this section? Is it entirely serious? Explain.
3) What sound does he hear? How does he react?
4) How is he different when he wakes up? Who is sitting with him?
5) What does Siddhartha start lecturing his friend about? Why?
Chapter 9 – The Ferryman
VOCABULARY:
- countenance (n)-
- emanate (v) –
- sage (n) – a person famed for wisdom
1) What does Siddhartha learn from the Ferryman? How are the skills he is learning now important to him for life?
2) What do people say about Siddhartha and the Ferryman?
3) How are they becoming alike? Is this a good thing? Explain.
4) Describe the events surrounding Kamala’s meeting Siddhartha again.
5) How has Siddhartha changed since their last meeting? How has Kamala changed?
6) What happens to Kamala? How does this effect Siddhartha?
Chapter 10 – The Son
1) What about Siddhartha would make him a lousy father?
2) How does young Siddhartha take advantage of the father?
3) What does he try to do for his son? Why won’t it work?
4) Why doesn’t he punish the boy?
5) Why is the river laughing? How has Siddhartha gotten “his own”?
6) How can love be “Samsara”?
7) Why does the son hate the father?
8) Why did he break the oar?
9) In losing his son, what might Siddhartha have gained?
Chapter 11 – Om
VOCABULARY:
- indignation (n) – anger at something unjust
- lament (n) – or lamentation – the expression of grief or sorrow
1) What “wound” does Siddhartha have? What is the different light that he sees people in?
2) What has been his biggest change since becoming a ferryman?
3) As a result, how does the tone of the book change?
4) What does the river do when Siddhartha goes to see his son? Whose reflection does he see?
5) Siddhartha and Vasudeva listen very, very closely to the river. What do they hear? Why is everything interconnected?
6) Where does Vasudeva go? (Hint: Not just the woods)
Chapter 12 – Govinda
VOCABULARY:
- intrinsic (adj) – belonging to something by its very nature (“Mothers intrinsically protect their young.”)
- jest (v) – a joke, a witty remark
- transitory (adj) –
- veneration (n) – an expression of respect and awe, reverence
1) Why is there still restlessness in Govinda’s heart?
2) What is wrong with seeking, according to Siddhartha?
3) Why doesn’t Siddhartha have a doctrine? How can wisdom not be communicable? Can you communicate knowledge?
4) What is the symbolism of the stone?
5) How can Nirvana and Samsara be the same?
6) What does Govinda see Siddhartha do? What does this show about Siddhartha’s final change?
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