Seduced by the World of Greed: Siddhartha’s Divergence on the Path to Enlightenment
Prompt 3: Examine Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha as a hero's journey narrative. Try to focus on one scene in the book/step in the hero's journey, and reflect on how Joseph Campbell's monomyth encourages us to understand that moment in the narrative. In Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha , the temptation stage of Joseph Campbell's hero's journey aligns with Siddhartha's time in the material world, specifically his time with Kamala. As we learned in class, the temptation stage of Campbell's hero's journey includes our hero being set astray from the path they are trying to take by a figure that resembles a physical or pleasurable nature. In Siddhartha , Kamala is interpreted as the figure of sexual pleasure and temptation that leads Siddhartha astray. Our hero, Siddhartha, has been on the journey of enlightenment and previously ditched material greed, leading a life of selflessness. He has begged for food when necessary and only wears minimal robes, showing ...