World Lit: buddha and siddhartha

Siddhartha operates with a strange paradox where, despite the main character’s ultimate rejection of Buddhist teachings, the biographical details of his life still mirror many of the details surrounding the legend of Buddha. The original story of Buddha features an affluent individual giving up his wealth in order to pursue Enlightenment. Siddhartha adopts a similar approach, giving “his robe as a gift to a poor Brahmin along the road” (Hesse 15). After making this sacrifice, “Siddhartha wore only a loincloth and an unstitched, earth-colored shawl” (Hesse 15). Buddha also only reached Enlightenment after fasting, making it worth noting that Siddhartha also “fasted for fifteen days” (Hesse 15). Madison Brown observes that one can easily conclude that these “elements are important to the plot or that these "parallels to Buddha's life are contributing factors to the legendary quality of the novel"” (Brown 194). It is difficult to deny that Hesse is intentionally attempting to draw similarities between Siddhartha and Buddha. However, towards the end of the assigned passage, Siddhartha rejects Buddha’s teachings. Siddhartha “left him, parted from him, and was not able to accept his teachings” (Hesse 39). Siddhartha ultimately rejects Buddha due to his shying away from authority and his focus on Enlightenment only coming from an interrogation of the Self. In this way, Siddhartha has a complex relationship with Buddha, one where he follows many biographical details yet diverges philosophically. Siddhartha also proceeds throughout the novel with the same goals as Buddha originally had, in an effort to seek Enlightenment. It is merely his methodology that has been altered after he rejects Buddha’s influence.