|
Have questions?
Contact us
Already a member? Sign in
|
Get every literary device explanation for Siddhartha
Plus so much more...
Sign up for LitCharts A+
Get instant access to every literary device explanation, plus so much more...
Motif
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:
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.
Here the narrator repeats two words: "goal" and "empty." The first word reminds the reader that Siddhartha has one singular desire: to achieve enlightenment. The second takes the form of an anaphora—that is, it appears at the beginning of four dependent clauses: "empty of thirst, empty of desire, empty of dreams [.]" At this point in the story, Siddhartha wholeheartedly believes that the answer to his spiritual questions lies in the practice of asceticism, hence the emphasis on "emptiness" in relation to his goal. However, he soon discovers that he cannot achieve enlightenment through ascetic practices.
Repetition recurs in the same chapter when Siddhartha attempts to empty himself of his own identity through a process called "unselfing":
Taught by the eldest of the samanas, Siddhartha practiced unselfing [...] A heron flew over the bamboo forest—and Siddhartha took the heron into his soul, flew over forests and mountains, was a heron, ate fish, hungered heron hunger, spoke heron croaking, died heron death [...] And Siddhartha’s soul returned, was dead, was rotted, was dispersed[...]
Here Siddhartha takes a heron into his soul and the word "heron" reappears many times to underscore his focus on entering another animal's consciousness. One might expect meditation to be inspirational, or at least peaceful. But in this passage, repetition creates a monotonous rhythm that evokes the negative, unsettling feeling of unselfing. When Siddhartha's soul returns to his body, it "was dead, was rotted, was dispersed." In other words, he finds little or no fulfillment in this practice. The only thing it is good for in the long term is to show him the consequences of emptying oneself and ignoring one's own soul. Siddhartha is not at all inspired by the ways of the Samanas; in fact, their practices greatly limit his spiritual growth. Repetition appears in the first stages of his journey to express his limitation, frustration, and fixation on the incorrect paths to enlightenment.
Monthly
Annual (Best Value)
$595USD/mo
Charged $71.40 USD every year
Quote explanations & citation info
Every PDF download
Printable PDFs for every guide
"Would not have made it through without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"
– LitCharts A⁺ user
One-page Quick Lit Guides
Understand key basics—fast
Printable, one-page guides that cover the plot points, themes, and ideas you need to know.
Detailed chapter analysis
Get what happens and what it means
Targeted analysis next to the summary ensures you’ll understand more than just the plot.
Line-by-line poetry analysis
Get the meaning in every line
Never feel lost reading a poem again with clear and in-depth analysis of each and every line.
Literary & poetic device analysis
Decode the author’s language
Quickly find and understand the key devices in whatever you’re reading.
Unlimited quizzes
Unlimited quizzes and feedback
Boost your learning with quizzes that pinpoint and address knowledge gaps.
Advanced search
Find exactly what you need
Refine your search using advanced filters like genre, time period, literary movement, author context, grade level, and more.
Ask LitCharts AI
Ask LitCharts AI
Instant answers to all your lit questions. Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
Theme comparisons across books
Compare and contrast
Identify similar themes across books, making comparisons fast and simple.
Highlight, take notes, & save guides
Make LitCharts your own
Add highlights or notes, save guides for easy access later, and request new titles.
Teacher$795USD/mo
Charged $95.40 USD every year
Quote explanations & citation info
Find the perfect quote
Then understand it perfectly. And get the citation, too. For all 35,000+ quotes we cover.
Every PDF download
Printable PDFs for every guide
"Would not have made it through without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"
– LitCharts A⁺ user
One-page Quick Lit Guides
Understand key basics—fast
Printable, one-page guides that cover the plot points, themes, and ideas you need to know.
Detailed chapter analysis
Get what happens and what it means
Targeted analysis next to the summary ensures you’ll understand more than just the plot.
Line-by-line poetry analysis
Get the meaning in every line
Never feel lost reading a poem again with clear and in-depth analysis of each and every line.
Literary & poetic device analysis
Decode the author’s language
Quickly find and understand the key devices in whatever you’re reading.
Unlimited quizzes
Unlimited quizzes and feedback
Boost your learning with quizzes that pinpoint and address knowledge gaps.
Advanced search
Find exactly what you need
Refine your search using advanced filters like genre, time period, literary movement, author context, grade level, and more.
Ask LitCharts AI
Ask LitCharts AI
Instant answers to all your lit questions. Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
Theme comparisons across books
Compare and contrast
Identify similar themes across books, making comparisons fast and simple.
Highlight, take notes, & save guides
Make LitCharts your own
Add highlights or notes, save guides for easy access later, and request new titles.
Teacher editions
Save time with in-depth organizers
"THE best teaching resource I have ever used. My students love the handouts."
– LitCharts A⁺ User
Printable classroom resources
Cut prep time in half
Essay prompts, discussion questions, and comprehension checks—easy to print and ready to use in class.
Discussion question generator
Discussion question generator
Instantly create discussion questions that get people talking, through the power of LitCharts analysis and AI.
Essay prompt generator
Essay prompt generator
Quickly create thought-provoking essay prompts that will get your students writing, powered by LitCharts analysis and AI.
Quiz question generator
Quiz question generator
Effortlessly generate targeted quiz questions, powered by the world’s best literary analysis and AI.
Literature Guide PDFs
LitCharts PDFs for every book you'll read this year.
Instant PDF downloads of all 2265 LitCharts literature guides and of every new one we publish. Try a free sample literature guide.
"Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"
Quotes Explanations
Find the perfect quote. Understand it perfectly. Then rock the citation, too.
For all 50,536 quotes we cover.
For all 50,536 quotes we cover.
Teacher Editions
Close reading made easy for students.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Teacher Edition Contents
|
Close Reading Organizers |
|
Character Analysis Organizers |
|
Symbol Analysis Organizers |
|
Theme Analysis Organizers |
|
Quote Analysis Organizers |
Common Core-aligned
""
Try a free and complete sample Teacher Edition.
PDFs of modern translations of every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 3 longer poems.
Every translation available to download as a PDF.
Try a free sample Shakespeare translation.
"Every teacher of literature should use these translations. They completely demystify Shakespeare. Students love them!"
Literary Terms and Devices
Definitions and examples for every literary term and device you need to know.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Try a free sample literary term PDF.
Advanced Search
Refine any search. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more.
Related Themes
Comparing and contrasting texts? Find where any theme occurs across all of LitCharts in seconds.
Poetry Guides
Line-by-line explanations and analysis of figurative language and poetic devices.
For every lyric poem we cover.
For every lyric poem we cover.
