Reflections on Siddhartha Chapters 5-12

In all honesty I typically do not enjoy reading as much as I probably should. And from hearing from my peers that had already read Siddhartha, I thought it reading the novel would be dreadful. Though surprisingly I felt just the opposite about the book. I really got into it more than any other book I had read in the past, it all made sense to me.

One of the greatest life lessons that Siddhartha learned throughout his journey was that making mistakes only makes a stronger person. Siddhartha has made numerous mistakes throughout his journey, and with those mistakes he gained wisdom. Those who do not make mistakes don't learn through experience, and are usually not as strong as those who have learned through experience. "I went off and learned the pleasures of love from Kamala, learned to conduct business from Kamaswami, accumulated money, squandered money, learned to love my stomach, learned to indulge my sense. I had to spend many years losing my spirit, unlearning how to think, forgetting the great Oneness" (Siddhartha 81). Even though Siddhartha didn't take the most conventional path in life he sure learned a lot from it through his various experiences. Siddhartha also learns from the world surrounding him. The river plays a very large part in the novel, in a way it symbolizes life. "Isn't it true my friend, that the river has many voices, very many voices? Does it not have the voice of a king, and of a warrior, and of a bull, and of a nocturnal bird, and of a woman giving birth, and of a man heaving a sigh, and a thousand voices more? (Siddhartha 91). Water is soft though it can corrode large things over time, like the Grand Canyon. In many ways soft is greater than hard. Just like the soft bond of love can break large obstacles over time.

Following your inner voice is one of the major points in the novel. Some people are never satisfied because they don't follow their inner voice. Just how Siddhartha is never satisfied until he finds his voice and inner being. Govinda is never truly happy either because he never steps out of his box and follows his voice, just like Siddhartha had done. "And in this moment  he heard something that made him tremble. It was his inner voice, and the voice said no" (Siddhartha 45). Siddhartha is always fairly true to his inner voice even though he makes some mistakes along the way. He does what feels right to him, something that Govinda never really did until later in the novel. "Where else may my path by taking me? How stupid it is, this path of mine; it goes in loops. For all I know it's going in a circle. Let it lead where it will, I shall follow it. (Siddhartha 81). At this point Siddhartha has found his voice, he can recognize it, and he has learned to follow it. You have to be first willing, and able to follow the inner voice, and resist temptation by avoiding outside influences. "In his heart he heard the voice that was awakening once more, and it said to him, Love this water! Remain beside it! Learn from it!Oh, yes he wanted to learn from it; he wanted to listen to it. One who understood this water and its secrets, it seemed to him, would understand many other things as well, many secrets, all secrets." (Siddhartha 85). Siddhartha understands the world and embraces it, in its fullest. This is why Siddhartha reaches enlightenment.