AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

Consider Siddhartha’s relationship with Govinda. How are they similar, and how are they different? What are the narrative functions of Govinda’s reappearance throughout the novel? How does their relationship impact the novel’s ending?

• I would consider the two as opposites. When Govinda thinks something he makes Siddhartha question himself on what he truly believes which adds strength to the journeys of both characters. Because of Govinda, Siddhartha turns out the way he is at the end of the novel.

What purpose does self-denial serve in Siddhartha? What about self-indulgence?

•  In order to reach enlightenment, Siddhartha was taught by the Semana's to basically destroy one's self and all the emotions and feelings. After that has been achieved, the journey will be over and enlightenment will be reached.

Most literary scholars agree that Siddhartha was prompted by Herman Hesse’s fixation on Eastern spirituality. Is there a case to be made that Siddhartha is designed to celebrate Eastern religion? Is Hesse’s treatment of spirituality as relevant today as it was when he wrote the novel?

• I think Heese's idea that Siddhartha be in Eastern Spirituality was right. When we think of enlightenment and Buddhas, our culture has taught us to think able the Eastern part of the world instead of the one we are currently in. It would be difficult to imagine that enlightenment is waiting at the furthest corner of Manhattan. 

Siddhartha features substantial activity and narrative action. At the same time, it is about one man’s largely internal spiritual quest. What is the relationship between the internal and exterior worlds of Siddhartha? How does Siddhartha negotiate these worlds?

• Siddhartha's internal world is set on Nirvana and obtaining it one way or another, and the external world he lives in provides the opportunities for Siddhartha to find Nirvana whether it is with his wife, the Semanas, or Govinda. The two worlds are constantly struggling for consensus, and when he reaches the river, he comes to terms and his worlds are at peace.

Herman Hesse’s novels before Siddhartha focused on alienated young men who rejected the cultures of their upbringings. However, these other novels did not feature the spiritual elements of Siddhartha. How do the spiritual elements of Siddhartha make it different from any other story of an alienated youth?

•  I couldn't come up with this answer because I had no prior information about Heese's other books, but based on what the question gives about the other books("alienated young men who rejected the cultures of their upbringings") I still couldn't figure it out. I would a more specific passage where Siddhartha alienates himself in his youth.

In order to prepare for the AP test, I would have to look at all the text we read over the course of a year and study the themes and specific things in the books by comparing them to other books that I have read.


http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/siddhartha/study.html
http://www.shmoop.com/siddhartha/questions.html