HERMANN HESS'S SIDDHARTHA: A KIERKEGAARDIAN EXISTENTIALIST STUDY

Abstract

This paper explores Siddhartha's walk toward existential authenticity in Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. It demonstrates how the hero’s deep understanding of existential anguish, ethical accountability and spiritual rebirth affects his personal characteristics and the complexity of the work. The paper argues that the protagonist’s odyssey is akin to a Kierkegaardian existential quest for meaning and identity in life. The path that Kierkegaard suggests, as Reith assumes, corresponds to the way Siddhartha traveled through life and found his own individual truth in all the three spheres: the aesthetic, the ethical, and the religious, by the end. This paper uses textual analysis method to explore how the story of Siddhartha reflects Kierkegaardian philosophy with regard to the conflicts of religion, hedonism and moral duty. This study is an attempt to demonstrate the approach of the protagonist, Siddhartha, to existential self-realization as a response to certain general concerns of human longing, divine existence, and the diversity of choices available to him. Findings: The implications are that the pilgrimage motif of Siddhartha's spiritual journey exhibits the transition from the aesthetic to the religious stage, stressing the importance of individual belief and personal experience. By offering perspectives on humanity and the search for meaning, this contributes to existing discussions about existentialism, spirituality, and personal growth.

Keywords: Kierkegaard’s three stages of existence: the aesthetic, the ethical, and religious; human yearning; existentialism