Love the River

Siddhartha has made it clear that he hates the way of life he chose. While living with Kamala and the merchant, he just forgot what he wanted and was looking for. "Maybe, but I envy yours." Siddhartha says this to the ferryman on page 83, when they talk about the ferryman's life. Why does Siddhartha has this sudden regret? It's as if he realized everything was wrong, and that he had to make things right. And that's exactly what he did by clearing his mind, and going to the "meditation tree".

It's as if the river called him. It "looked at him with a thousand eyes", and reflected who Siddhartha really was. He was nothing but simple and calm. All the clothes and materialistic things that he didn't really need, he threw them away. That's why he asked the ferryman to give him the clothes he had on. People judge too much, and Siddhartha learned that. The ferryman did it when Siddhartha started talking to him. The ferryman said it himself, why would Siddhartha envy his life if he has it all. "Oh, you would soon lose your taste for it. It is not for people in fine clothes." The ferryman is telling Siddhartha that people like him don't last long in those conditions of living.

What I really liked about this chapter, was the way it ended. It kind of says in a way how important family is. Even though Kamara dies, little Siddhartha finds his father. Siddhartha chose a different path than Kamara. Somehow someway, they joined paths together again. I don't really believe in destiny and that God has a plan for all of us, but this chapter made me look at this differently. I know this sounds cheesy and everything, but things do happen for a reason. There's a cause and a consequence to everything, and we choose things without really knowing what we chose. One thing may lead to another and so on, but that's life. Kamala was meant to die in Siddhartha's eyes. I'm pretty sure that if I read the next chapter, I'll find that Siddhartha learned or will do something because of Kamala's death.

Is Siddhartha Starting to Notice?

There's a pattern in the book which I've noticed happens on almost every chapter. Siddhartha changes a lot. It's a change thats frequent and different, but in some way it's similar. Siddhartha changes his style of living, his habits, his way to do stuff, how he looks, and how he responds to people. But what I've found hard to believe is if he has really changed the way he feels, and the way he looks at things.

From the beginning of the book, we all knew he would accomplish something. Siddhartha was meant to find something and be great. And well of course that did happen; a book was written with his name as the title. He was described as the perfect human being. Throughout the book, he did some stuff that made me question this. For example what he did with Govinda. Leaving a friend behind is not good. But then comes the question, how do you know the difference between good and evil? It all depends on different points of view. If Siddhartha did it, he probably had a reason for it. In my perspective, I think he did it to complete his journey. Just another obstacle he had to cross.

I personally believe Siddhartha lacks of emotions. We know what he does and what he thinks throughout the book, but how he really feels? As far as I've read he hasn't really shown that to me. Just because he has a woman by his side who he shows a lot of affection to, doesn't mean he feels something for her. He left his father, his best friend, and the woman whom he will have a child with. All I know, is that he is a very devoted man who does really get how things "work". I'll have to continue reading to really find out, if what I think about his emotions is true.

Siddhartha Bauer

Siddhartha is seen in many different aspects, but mostly as a rebel. At the beginning of the book we can see how he becomes this independent, free man, who is determined to find what he's looking for. He changes paths, focuses on other things, leaves people behind, abandons others, and does other things we never imagined he would do. Siddhartha is a very determined person, who we know fights for what he stands for. He reminded me of one of my favorite characters of all time and personal hero Jack Bauer, from the series 24.

In the series, Jack is this field agent who works for the government against terrorist attacks. He is probably the coolest, most awesomest, and rebellious guy on the TV world. That's why he reminded me so much of Siddhartha. Jack does everything to complete his mission and get what he wants. He doesn't care about the law or about breaking it, he does what he thinks is right. Another thing that made me compare them a lot, was the fact that Jack is so smart and saves the world and himself in a way. He always finds the exit to a problem and solves it, or realizes if he messed up and fixes it. Siddhartha kind of does the same thing. He notices when he takes the wrong path, and fixes it to keep finding the Self and what he wants to accomplish.

Even though these two characters have a huge year difference, the simplicity and alikeness we see in both of them is big. I stay with Jack Bauer because he is just pure awesome. If you haven't seen the series, you are wasting your life and missing out big time. If I could, I would be Mrs.Bauer happily. It's good that Siddhartha has this rebellious characteristics. This makes him wiser and more like a hero. At least for me.

Video Blog for Siddhartha Link

Siddhartha and Gotama

As soon as Siddhartha and Govinda were accepted as spiritual pilgrims, I knew Siddhartha would have strong feelings toward Gotama. Gotama radiated pure enlightenment. He is described as a pure soul with almost no flaws at all. Gotama's teachings were very strong and powerful. I really predicted that Siddhartha would have something against it. Gotama did to everything the teachings said and followed them very closely, but Siddhartha wasn't 100% sure. And as expected, Siddhartha said everything to Gotama about what he had on his mind. Gotama understood Siddhartha, but he also had a lot of amazing points that Siddhartha did not understand, or didn't want to understand. We all know by now that Siddhartha doesn't let himself control by anyone. So he left everything behind, including his friend Govinda.

This reminds me of every movie I see where there are two friends. The Hobbit is a great example. There's always going to be that one friend who is wiser, better, braver, or something else that the other. This happens in Siddhartha too. In movies there are also many times were they separate paths or they make them fight or be against each other. Why? The director probably thinks is funner to see people fight (which it is), but it happens so often that you can start predicting the entire film. Weirdly in Siddhartha, there are somethings that we can predict will happen but other that are so different from what you thought. You never know what path the book is going to take.  

Is Siddhartha a Rebel?

What I have found strange about this book, is how Siddhartha's personality changes from one second to the other. He just looks at some Samanas passing by, and that's everything it takes for him to change. People passing by. The strange thing is that, Siddhartha is described as the perfect human being. He only brings pride to his father and mother. He has a friend that loves him more than anything, and every girl in the village dies a little when they hear his name. Why would he want to change? He's already handsome and knows how to meditate since the beginning.

His father told him not to, but did that stop him? That reminds me of a movie I saw a long time ago. Mulan was about to become the perfect woman for a guy to marry. But something happened, she didn't do what her father told her, and she went on a not very feminine journey. Siddhartha doesn't listen to what his father wants. He knows what he wants, and that's the only thing that matters to him. Why would he not do what his father said? We knew he was not at peace with himself. But I at least, never imagined he would disobey his father because of how the author describes him at the beginning.

The question I ask myself is, what will Siddhartha say or do when he sees his father again? His father told him on page 9, "If you find bliss on the forest, come back and teach it to me. If you find disillusionment, come back, and we shall again offer sacrifices to the gods together." What will he find? Is his father going to feel pride? because as far as I've read, Saddhartha is definitely choosing mind over heart. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, yet.  

Spellbound Strategy

5 words that I did not know that the showed in the movie were: wheedle, mattock, crocodilian, zwieback, and cephalalgia.

Some of the strategies that the kids used to learn the words, were memorization skills, and lots of them. They studied five to nine hours a day words and words. They even created games so that they could learn how to spell the words correctly. Studying was like their hobby, it was the only thing they did. Even studying straight from the dictionary which is like impossible to do. Their parents also had some strategies that they told their kids they had to do.