Two People, Two Journeys

In the novel Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse, the main character Siddhartha's journey is explained thoroughly. Every human being experiences their own life journey. Some journey's are intended, like Siddhartha's, and other journey's are simply the different actions an individual experiences. Each life journey is unique and separates human beings from one another. My personal life journey is not the same as Siddhartha's, but certain aspects are similar in their own way.

Since pre-school, I attended the same school until the eighth grade. During those nine years I grew to recognize every face of every student, parent, and teacher. I was completely content with where I was and cherished every minute I was there. When the high school decision approached, my grade split evenly between the all-boy and all-girl private schools. I then had the choice to stay among the children I had known all my life, or to venture and receive a beginning taste of the real world and experiences that come with meeting new people. In the beginning of the novel, Siddhartha is in the community he was born and raised into. Every member loved and admired Siddhartha, but like myself, Siddhartha wanted more and wanted to experience the world outside of his comfort zone. To explain Siddhartha's feelings, it is quoted "..they had already poured their all into his waiting vessel, and the vessel was not full, his mind was not satisfied, his soul was not at peace, his heart was not content" (5).

When I was twelve years old, my parents divorced. At first, the realization of what was happening did not affect me, but once it did my emotions took a turn for the worst. I never believed before that I would be a member of a family with divorced parents. It felt as if how I'd been living my whole life had been a lie. Unfortunately, I had to leave the house I grew up in my whole life. My home was the place I had been accustomed to for so long. Siddhartha also experienced something like this. After living in Samsara for a long period of time, once he left he felt as if his whole life for that period of time had been a lie. His emotions took a turn for the worst, and he found himself in search of a new place to call home. Although the two experiences may seem different, they are both similar in different ways. Both are experiences of being pulled out of a place and life someone has grown so accustomed to, and feeling like a period of their life had been a lie. Another quote of Siddhartha's thoughts states "He knew only one thing-that he could not go back, that the life he had led for many years was over and gone" (68).

After leaving the city of Samsara, Siddhartha was confused and unaware of where his life was going next. This is the point I am currently at in my life journey. I am trying to figure out what college I belong to that will be the best suitable place for me. This college is where I will learn and experience my own form of enlightenment. My enlightenment will be my realization of what my job on this earth is intended to be. Siddhartha's journey was filled with complications, fasting, and constantly adapting to new surroundings. But once he promised himself to begin a new positive chapter of his journey, his goal of enlightenment was quickly attained. "That life is now old and dead. May my new way, my new life, have its starting point there" (79)!