Siddartha

"He was deeply entangled in Samsara; he had drawn nausea and death to himself from all sides, like a sponge that absorbs water until it is full. He was full of ennui, full of misery, full of death; there was nothing left in the world that could attract him, that could give him pleasure and solace"(87).

This quote comes in the point in the novel where Siddartha had fallen from grace. Throughout the novel he was on a quest to find himself and achieve nirvana, but here he found himself getting deeply entangled in the material world. He knows in his mind that the things that he is immersing himself in; gambling, business, etc., are not the things that he should be doing on his path to nirvana. However, he is still human. We see Siddartha as this pure and righteous man, but in the end he is human and will make mistakes and do things he knows are wrong. This is important to understand in this and any novel, as nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes no matter who we are or what we do. Also even though Siddartha is going the wrong way on the path of enlightenment towards Samsara, this experience will help Siddartha achieve nirvana. It goes along with the idea that if you have not experienced sadness and sorrow, how can you appreciate happiness. If Siddartha does not have this experience, he may not have been able to achieve his goal.

"But he loved him and preferred the sorrow and trouble of his love rather than happiness and pleasure without the boy"(118).

This quote is from the part of the story where Siddartha is reunited with his son. His son comes from a very privileged background where he was used to bossing around servants and getting whatever he wanted. Needless to say it was a very tough transition for him from his old life to the one of simplicity that he had with Siddartha. The relationship between Siddartha and his son was rocky at best, as his son did not