The novel Siddhartha by Herman Hesse examines the life of Siddhartha, the main character as he goes on a journey searching for Nirvana. Likewise, the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman also depicts a man’s journey of personal discovery. Whitman begins his poem exclaiming to an unknown listener that is “large and contains multitudes” (Whitman 8). With these words, the poet is saying he is a complex person who is interested about the world. The poet sees the world as exciting and multifaceted. Similar to his vision of the world, the poet’s soul is convoluted and contradictory. Like Whiteman, Siddhartha has a restless soul. For example, “his intellect was not satisfied, his soul was not at peace, his heart was not still” (Hesse 5). Moreover, …show more content…
Considering their differences, however, Siddhartha is spiritual and calm compared to Whitman, who is rowdy and bewildered. Specifically, in the novel, Siddhartha “sat down ready to pronounce the Om…” (Hesse 8). In other words, Siddhartha’s actions show that he is at peace, and ready to recite the Om. In contrast, Whitman is very hard to handle as a person:”I too am not a bit tamed, I am too untranslatable (Whitman 15). Furthermore, Whitman uses nature imagery for his completed journey, and explains the purpose of the ground to find him. To illustrate the imagery, Whitman says, “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love” (22). In the same way, the imagery relates to Siddhartha because of the river. The river is shown as “transparent green, into the flowing water, into the crystal lines of wonderful design” (Hesse 101). Although the ground and river are very important to Whitman and Siddhartha, it teaches Siddhartha a lesson. Siddhartha, “listened to the water, which to them was not just water, but a voice if life, the voice of Being, of the perpetual Becoming.” (108).This quote infers to Siddhartha learning to understand the deeper meaning of the river by