Siddhartha Discussion

After reading the book, I discussed my opinions about various parts of the book with the person who recommended it to me, my older brother, Easton.

What do you think of Govinda as a character? How has Govinda been important as a character? What do you think the Author's purpose was in putting Govinda into the storyline?

I see a lot of myself in Govinda. He tends to not try to break the social mold and he adapts to each environment he is introduced to, whereas Siddhartha likes to push each situation to understand it's meaning and usefulness. I am sure that the author's role for Govinda was to establish an base of normality in which to compare Siddhartha. 

I found while reading this book, that the story closely relates to the movie Big Fish. In Big Fish, a man leaves a town that he is "too good for" to achieve his ambitions. In Siddhartha, Siddhartha leaves the Samonas which he is one of the most respected people in to reach his ambition which is enlightenment. What is your view on this connection?

I agree that the movie Big Fish follows a similar story structure, but for different reasons. In Siddhartha, the point of the journey was to achieve enlightenment, whereas in Big Fish it was to satisfy curiosity. Also, one main purpose of the journey in Big Fish was to legitimize the "tall tales" that the old man told the boy growing up. The movie was more of a fairy tale than an actual depiction of the subjects journey.

Who was the most memorable character in the book in your opinion? Why?

I suppose that the most memorable character in the story was Siddhartha which is obvious because the novel was about him. His lifelong trek led him to many different places and changed his life so radically. I am jealous of his bravery and spontaneity. I think we all wish we could be as adventurous as Siddhartha.

The book explained just about everything that Siddhartha learned from different things in the various settings. Did you learn anything new from the book? What was it?

I learned a lot about the Buddhist perspective from this book. Before I read it, I equated Buddhism with Communism. I assumed their religion was based on making sure that the entire community was satisfied and equal. I see now that Buddhists are not completely selfless. In fact, some Buddhists spend their entire lives seeking understanding of ones self. Of course, the way you treat others directly influences the way you see yourself and that is what makes the story of Siddhartha such a powerful subject.

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Overall, my favorite character so far has been the Ferryman. Siddhartha first encountered him on his way to the town and he seemed very wise. The Ferryman learned a lot of his life lessons from the river. For example, on the way to town, the ferryman explained that "everything comes back" everything goes full circle. He foresaw the future that Siddhartha would come back to the ferryman and pay his trip across the river in friendship to the ferryman. After Siddhartha left the town, he did just that.

The Ferryman seems to be a very easy going person with a friendly personality and I like that about him. Many people in this book seem polite and respectful towards one another, but very few of them give off a friendly vibe like the ferryman did. The ferryman is not nearly as adventurous as Siddhartha, as he does not leave the river too often. He is not as clever as Kamala, as most of his education has come from a river rather than a teacher. The ferryman in many ways is worse off than a great deal of the people in this book economically as he let's people go free under the assumption that one day they will pay him back, even if it is not with money. It is because of these reasons, that I favorite the ferryman above the other characters.

He is so very basic. His lack of complexity makes him the perfect guide for Siddhartha. His easy going lifestyle draws me in and makes me want to read more about him. His friendliness is a rarity in this book and gives plenty of relief. I would definitely have to say that the ferryman is by far my favorite character in this entire book.

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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.