What aspects of Hesse's life most heavily influenced his writing?
I think that Hesse's writing is mainly influenced by his personal life, specifically his family. With his family breaking up, his wife institutionalized, and his sons sent away, Hesse probably had a lot of emotional stress. Hence his leaving home without a second thought. The way he was brought up definitely played a large role in his writing as well. He had a missionary family, so one can only assume that he was held to high expectations. Herman Hesse was able to convey a deeper understand for the search of enlightenment, happiness, and personal meaning. In Siddhartha, Hesse explains Siddhartha's understand that he has to be original to reach enlightenment which Hesse experienced in his own life.
What is familiar about the spiritual ideas focused in on the novel? What is unfamiliar?
Hesse discusses many topics including violence and materialism. My generation can most definitely familiarize with those. We spend so much time learning about war, and many of us know at least one person who is currently overseas for some sort of violence movement. Materialism is an everyday thing, so I'd like to say that's pretty familiar. A concept I'm not too familiar with is enlightenment. From what I've read so far and have a little understanding of it. I think that if anything, enlightenment is different for everyone.
What interests you about this text? What do you hope to gain from your study of Siddhartha?
I'm really interested in others' culture and different religion. We've all grown up so sheltered, only learning about our own culture and religions. I think it's interesting reading a piece of literature from a completely different point of view than I've ever experienced. The book talks about enlightenment and other aspects of buddhism, that are so intriguing. I hope to take a lot from this book, to be totally honest. I'm hoping it'll give me more knowledge on another religion, teach me to be more open-minded and balanced, and help me to possibly apply some new concepts to my life.
