A Study of Self in Conflict, in Hesse’s masterpiece Siddhartha

Abstract

Published in1922 Siddhartha is a Western version of the self in conflict in the life of the protagonist
Siddhartha. It is necessary to know how and to what extent Hesse was influenced by the conflict of
self in the life of Siddhartha; and equally important it is to know what self-conflict is according to
Indian Philosophy. In the following few passages the researcher intends to highlight the concept of
the self in conflict in the context of in the Indian Philosophy and Buddhism as a brief background to
understand apply in the novel Siddhartha:
Hesse had read Schopenhauer; he had experienced what he believed was genuine Indian culture
throughout his childhood, and psychologically he was open to the meditative practices which he
believed were the steps to achieve his goal of unity. Hesse found the inspiration to renew his
interest in Hinduism and Buddhism in the writings of Schopenhauer, whose work he now preferred
to that of Nietzsche. His reading of Schopenhauer's confirmed for him the significance of Indian
ideas for understanding epistemological issues. (Boulby 1967 121-123)