Siddhartha

by Hermann Hesse

Siddhartha: Genre 1 key example

Genre
Explanation and Analysis:

Siddhartha is best described as philosophical literature. The main philosophical question of this story is: what is enlightenment, and how can one achieve it? Siddhartha spends many years pondering and experimenting with different ways of life before becoming enlightened. He first adopts an ascetic life, after which he indulges in the material life, before finally finding his own Nirvana at the edge of a river. The story emphasizes the value of life experience beyond books. Ancient writings and thousands of years of spiritual practice underlie Siddhartha's original question of how to become enlightened, but he achieves it primarily through experience.