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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Part One, Chapter 1 – The Brahmin's Son
Explanation and Analysis—Om:
The sacred Hindu syllable "Om" recurs in Siddhartha as a motif that signifies spiritual concentration. According to the Upanishads, Om is God in the form of sound, and in Hesse's novel, Siddhartha's eventual understanding of Om marks his entrance into enlightenment. He encounters it at key moments throughout the text. For instance, in Chapter 1, Siddhartha says a few verses aloud in preparation for speaking the Om:
They went to the banyan tree, they sat down, here Siddhartha, twenty paces further Govinda. Sitting down, ready to speak the om, Siddhartha, murmuring, repeated the verses:
Om is bow, the arrow is soul,
Brahma is the arrow’s goal,
It must be struck unswervingly.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Spiritual Immaturity:
Spiritual immaturity—the opposite of enlightenment—emerges as a motif in the first half of Siddhartha. It takes two forms: numbness and passivity. At the very beginning of the story, Siddhartha often feels the need to become wise; however, he is never quite satisfied with his spiritual progress. In Chapter 2, he joins the ascetic Samanas in an effort to develop his body and mind, but he feels only "numbness":
Unlock with LitCharts A+But in my exercises and meditations [as an ascetic], I have found only brief numbing and I am still as far from wisdom, from redemption as when I was a baby in my mother’s womb—
Related Themes:
Part One, Chapter 2 – Among the Samanas
Explanation and Analysis—Spiritual Immaturity:
Spiritual immaturity—the opposite of enlightenment—emerges as a motif in the first half of Siddhartha. It takes two forms: numbness and passivity. At the very beginning of the story, Siddhartha often feels the need to become wise; however, he is never quite satisfied with his spiritual progress. In Chapter 2, he joins the ascetic Samanas in an effort to develop his body and mind, but he feels only "numbness":
Unlock with LitCharts A+But in my exercises and meditations [as an ascetic], I have found only brief numbing and I am still as far from wisdom, from redemption as when I was a baby in my mother’s womb—
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Repetition:
Repetition recurs as a stylistic motif in Siddhartha that highlights the titular character's fixation on enlightenment. Throughout the story, Siddhartha keeps a strict focus on spiritual satisfaction. When he goes to live with the Samanas in Chapter 2, he makes his goal very clear:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Siddhartha had a goal, a single one: to become empty—empty of thirst, empty of desire, empty of dreams, empty of joy and sorrow. To die away from himself, no longer be self, to find peace with an emptied heart, to be open to miracles in unselfed thinking: that was his goal.
Related Themes:
Part Two, Chapter 7 – Samsara
Explanation and Analysis—Birds:
In Siddhartha, birds become a recurring motif that signifies freedom of the soul. For example, Kamala keeps a rare songbird in a gilded cage, and in Chapter 7 Siddhartha dreams of its death:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And in those moments he had a dream: Kamala kept a small, rare songbird in a gold cage [...] He dreamed that this bird, which normally sang in the morning, had grown mute, and noticing this, he went over to the cage and peered inside. The little bird was dead, lying stiff on the bottom. He took it out, weighed it in his hand for a moment and then threw it away [...] he was terribly frightened, and his heart ached as if, with this dead bird, he had thrown away all value and all goodness.
Related Themes:
Part Two, Chapter 11 – Om
Explanation and Analysis—Om:
The sacred Hindu syllable "Om" recurs in Siddhartha as a motif that signifies spiritual concentration. According to the Upanishads, Om is God in the form of sound, and in Hesse's novel, Siddhartha's eventual understanding of Om marks his entrance into enlightenment. He encounters it at key moments throughout the text. For instance, in Chapter 1, Siddhartha says a few verses aloud in preparation for speaking the Om:
Unlock with LitCharts A+They went to the banyan tree, they sat down, here Siddhartha, twenty paces further Govinda. Sitting down, ready to speak the om, Siddhartha, murmuring, repeated the verses:
Om is bow, the arrow is soul,
Brahma is the arrow’s goal,
It must be struck unswervingly.
Related Themes:
