I was away on a trip for a week shortly after finishing To Be Frank Diego and I brought Siddhartha with me so that I may read it while I was there. On the upside, I got a good portion of the book finished and I am enjoying it a lot so far. On the downside, I haven't been able to make a blog post until now (which may or may not actually be a downside depending on your perspective). That being said, let's get started.
When I started reading the book, Siddhartha came across to me as sort of a Gary Stu - a character that is better than everyone else at everything. This initially led me to dislike him. Upon trying to convince his father to let him leave the homeland, he stood perfectly still without food or water for 24 hours. His knees were shaking and he admitted that he would die waiting here if his father did not let him leave. Eventually, he got permission to do so. He left to investigate "Gotama", the man who achieved enlightenment (which I am not certain if this person is the Buddha). This shows something that Siddhartha is not better than everyone else at. It shows that there is someone "greater". Later on, Siddhartha leaves Gotama to find his own enlightenment. He comes to a town where he lives life as a citizen. He gambled, worked a job, and all the other things that the average person does. When he got to the town, however, he admitted that he was only good at 3 things: fasting, waiting, and thinking. It was at this point that I changed my mind about Siddhartha and the more I read, the more clear it became that he has many weaknesses, but does a good job of working around them using his strengths.
When I started reading the book, Siddhartha came across to me as sort of a Gary Stu - a character that is better than everyone else at everything. This initially led me to dislike him. Upon trying to convince his father to let him leave the homeland, he stood perfectly still without food or water for 24 hours. His knees were shaking and he admitted that he would die waiting here if his father did not let him leave. Eventually, he got permission to do so. He left to investigate "Gotama", the man who achieved enlightenment (which I am not certain if this person is the Buddha). This shows something that Siddhartha is not better than everyone else at. It shows that there is someone "greater". Later on, Siddhartha leaves Gotama to find his own enlightenment. He comes to a town where he lives life as a citizen. He gambled, worked a job, and all the other things that the average person does. When he got to the town, however, he admitted that he was only good at 3 things: fasting, waiting, and thinking. It was at this point that I changed my mind about Siddhartha and the more I read, the more clear it became that he has many weaknesses, but does a good job of working around them using his strengths.
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