Minor characters in literary works can be used for various purposes. Choose two minor characters from Demian and examine the ways in which they contribute to the work.
One of the main themes in the novel Demian is the opposing “worlds” in society; the opposition of Good and Evil. This theme is illustrated with in two minor characters, Sinclair’s Parents and Beatrice. This theme is an illustration of struggles we all face in our paths to finding our selves. This explains that there is not just a world of black and white, there is a middle ground, and this is what Sinclair (main character, narrator) tries to do.
A large part of Sinclair’s maturation is his coming to accept that it is all right to indulge in the pleasures of life whether they are “good or bad.” The “good or bad” that he has learned are based on societal standards, and who are they to tell him or anyone what is right and wrong or good or bad. These opposing worlds, good vs. bad, ultimately lead to a decision of one or another, but Sinclaire searches for a balance between them. He also comes to realize that you can not have the good things in life with out first finding the bad parts. This is quickly illustrated in the first part of the book with the “dark and light” worlds in his own house and with his parents. Later on in the book he discovers the same opposition in his vision of a girl, Beatrice.
At the age of ten, Sinclair began to question society and his life in general. This is when he began realizing that there were aspects within him that were accepted by the standards of society and there were aspects that were not. He describes these as “day and night, two different worlds.” At this early time in his life, Sinclair sees the realms as very separate. One realm is illustrated by the world of his father’s house, which was “brilliance, clarity and cleanliness, gentle conversations, washed hands, clean clothes, and good manners.” The other realm, also within his own house, however, was one that “smelled different” and “contained servant girls and workmen, ghost stories, rumors of scandal.”
The Essay on Good Technology Vs. Bad Technology
In a world dominated by technology, it can be difficult for a person to distinguish between the meaning of ‘good technology’ and ‘bad technology’. The question which makes this categorization so hard is, what is it that makes technology good or bad? Is it the technology itself that makes it good or bad or is it us, the users? Technology is a most wonderful and marvellous thing. It can be found in ...
Sinclair’s parents are only present in the first part of the first chapter, but they play a big role in illustrating the opposing worlds. Since Sinclair has been taught by his parents that their house, home life, and he “unquestionably belonged to the realm of light and righteousness,” Sinclair tries to deny his aspects that may lie in the dark world. By doing this he lives in ignorance and fear of parts of life, and his home that may lead him to be disobedient to his parents or a member of the dark side. He soon expresses, with in himself, doubt about his unquestionable life, yet he is afraid to share this feeling. -“at times I didn’t want…to repent and be found again. But one didn’t dare think this, much less say it out loud.” Although Sinclair sometimes felt that there was no reason to repent, he could not cross the line between worlds without suffering from the guilt and shame that society dictated he should feel.
As Sinclair grows into adulthood, he goes through many life altering experiences with many different people. One day at his boarding school Sinclair sees a girl in the park, Beatrice, and devotes himself completely to finding spirituality. She begins to symbolize what he has been searching for. He aspires to paint her portrait. He says “I had something I loved and venerated, I had an ideal again, life was rich with intimations of mystery and a feeling of dawn that made me immune to taunts.” Sinclair dedicates himself to pursue the world of the light, however, he ignored the side of the dark once again. Sinclair tries over and over to paint the image of Beatrice, who he has become obsessed with. He fails until he allows himself to give into his “imagination and intuition that arose spontaneously from the first strokes, as though out of the paint and brush themselves.” When he achieves this, his painting turns out to express the seemingly oppositions as one realm. It was “half male, half female, ageless, as purposeful as it was dreamy, as rigid as it was secretly alive.” Weren’t males an opposition of females? Is it possible for these two realms to be adjoined? Sinclair is in aw of what he has found. She symbolizes the type of life Sinclair desires; a life in which opposing realms have a happy medium, where light and dark join.
The Essay on Max Demian Sinclair Life World
... term. He finally realizes what life means because he defines it himself. In the world of light and dark, Sinclair now understands that he need ... has the luxury of having maids and cooks waiting on him. Sinclair s ... always seemed to bring him peace. The world secure in the fortress of his parent s home. He feels special because he ...
Herman Hesse uses the characters of Sinclair’s parents and Beatrice to illustrate the need to find a place within society that is not just in their world or your own, it is with in all. The theme of finding one’s place in the constant opposition of society is an illustration of struggles we all face in our paths to finding our selves. By gaining acceptance and acknowledgment of all aspects of the world, good or bad, light or dark, the individual will then be able to find their peaceful and centered being.
