Siddhartha

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse tells the story of a boy named Siddhartha. He hails from a respected Brahmin family. He is well-liked in the community and enjoys a near-ideal friendship with Govinda. However, he is secretly unhappy about his existence. His father has already passed on all his wisdom, and there is nothing more to offer. Siddhartha and Govinda join an ascetic group living under vows of poverty, despite Siddhartha’s father’s discontentment.

They are taken in and instructed in the ideology of the Eightfold Path and the four main points as well as other Buddhist aspects. Govinda seems convinced, but Siddhartha questions how an individual can embrace the concept of the unity of all things. It is then that Siddhartha realizes Buddhism cannot provide all answers and abandons Govinda in search of a deeper meaning of life.