One can find many similar recurring themes in the novels Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, and Perfume, by Patrick Suskind. Both authors use an aspect of nature as a symbol, the river. Since the time of the ancient Chinese, Pharaohs, Romans and Greeks, people have believed that the flow of the river represents the flow in one’s life. They use the river to symbolise peoples’ existence. In both books, the river portrays spiritual aspects that tell the characters’ life stories, whether they take place in the past, present, or future, to show the consistency of the river and of life.
In Siddhartha, Hesse uses the river to reflect the life cycle of organisms on earth. For example, Vasudeva explains to Siddhartha that the river has taught him that, “everything comes back” (Hesse, 40).
Rivers resemble the human cycle of life because they flow, their water evaporates, and then these evaporated particles reappear as rain and continue the flow. Similarly, people do not always exist, but instead their children can go on to produce more children and so on, continuing life’s cycle. Furthermore, when Siddhartha meets Vasudeva again, Siddhartha comprehends the significance of the river and explains it to Vasudeva, saying, “[It] is everywhere at the same time, at the source, at the waterfall, at the current, in the ocean, everywhere, and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past, nor the shadow of the future” (Hesse, 87).
The Essay on River in Siddhartha
Siddhartha many times in the book, and has many meanings. In the first chapter, Siddhartha visits the river to bath and to make holy sacrifices. “The sun browned his slender shoulders on the river bank, while bathing at the holy ablutions, at the holy sacrifices. ”(pg3) When Siddhartha left Govinda behind, Siddhartha meets with the river again, and crossing this river led him to a new beginning. “ ...
Not only does the human cycle of life share similarities with the river, but one’s life portrays the characteristics of the river as well. One grows from childhood into maturity and into old age only to die or relive another life in the afterworld. Every part of that person’s life, whether on earth or in another world, has a reality and presence. So the existence of the river gives a clear parallel to the life of humans.
In Perfume, the river appears in every section of the book, serving as a living mirror that reflects the lives of the inhabitants around it. For example, when Baldini gazes at the river from his window, it reflects his deteriorating wealth, ” flowing from him; and it was as if he himself and his house and the wealth he had accumulated over many decades were flowing away and he was too old and too weak to oppose the powerful current” (Suskind, 59).
The river reflects Baldini’s circumstances by serving as a metaphor for Baldini’s decline. After a short time period, the river foreshadows Baldini’s future prosperity, but only for a limited time. Such as, when Baldini looks at the water, “it seem[s] the direction of the river [has] changed: it…flow[s] toward Baldini, a shimmering flood of pure gold” (Suskind, 65).
When one regards the first few words of the quote, one knows that the riches to come last only temporarily, they only “seem” but do not actually exist. Baldini’s luck and life expire in the river a few years later, when his apartment building suddenly collapses and falls into the river. By analysing the quote, one can see how the river presages Baldini’s destiny. Rivers serve as mirrors that reflect the present and the future.
The river stands for the death or disappearance of characters just as it stands for their life and prosperity in both books. In Siddhartha, the river works as a means towards Kamala’s death because she crosses it in order to reach her final destination, to meet Siddhartha again. So, Kamala dies without worrying about leaving her son with the wrong person because she leaves him with his father, Siddhartha, whom she knows will take care of their son. Then Siddhartha explains to Vasudeva how the river comforts him after Kamala’s death, saying “[he] sat [t]here and listened to the river, fill[ing] [him] with many great thoughts of unity; he [had] become richer and happier [for his] son [had] been given to [him]” (Hesse, 94).
The Essay on To Know Life Is To See Death
After selecting and reading numerous Emily Dickinson poems at random I began to see a pattern in that a majority of her poems were touching on the same subject in Death. Poem after poem death was her main focus and I didn't know why. Being that I didn't really have any previous knowledge of Dickinson's work, besides the dialogue we had in class, I decided to look further into her life. I found ...
With the circle of life, Kamala dies assured, not needing to worry about her son, because his father takes him in. Just as the river gives and takes, so does life. When young Siddhartha runs away, the river brings old Siddhartha to a realisation, he “remember[s] how…he had compelled his father to join the ascetics…how [his father] suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son” (Hesse, 107).
Siddhartha went through the exact same experience as his son, who must now go through life just as his father has. Similarly to his father, young Siddhartha has become a part of the cycle of life, so, he needs to live his own journey to obtain his own peace.
In Perfume, the river symbolises death more than disappearance; the Seine acts like a judge because it takes away the lives of people who take others for granted. For example, after leather tanner Grimal uses Grenouille to acquire wealth, his life is mercilessly taken away from him when, “he splash[es] length-wise and face first into the water, ” meanwhile “Grenouille [went to] bed while [Grimal] floated down the cold Seine, and dreamt of a gigantic orgy with clouds of incense…in his honour” (Suskind, 87-88).
The river takes Grimal’s life for his greedy intentions of making a fortune by abusing Grenouille’s abilities and then it foreshadows Grenouille’s massive orgy. Baldini also dies for his selfish aim to use Grenouille and get rid of him after achieving his goal of being the best perfumer in Paris. Grenouille seems to have some control over his destiny and his free will. For example, the enormous orgy that the river previously foresaw after Grimal’s death, explains Grenouille’s destiny to cause the orgy and the actual free will in starting the orgy.
Even though it appears that Grenouille always chose his destiny, the river anticipated and witnessed his life and death since the day of his birth. Furthermore, on the day of Grenouille’s death, the river reflects his pungent and moribund life, showing the exact characteristics that existed on the day of his birth: “tainted air hung in the narrow streets…even the river seemed to have stopped flowing, to have stagnated; it was a day like the one on which Grenouille was born” (Suskind, 253).
The Essay on Life After Death 6
The Afterlife is an area of human consciousness we all enter upon leaving the physical world at physical death. Throughout history we've questioned if there is a life after death. Along the way, our religions and various philosophers offered beliefs and opinions to answer this commonly asked question. However, many of the answers contradict each other making it hard to figure out. "Belief in life ...
The reader follows the smell from the river on the day Grenouille was born until the focal point of the story, his death. People who committed selfish crimes, like Baldini and Grimal, had their deaths gradually prophesised by the river, so that they would have more time to suffer because they constantly felt unsatisfied. Hence, the river serves as a mode of death for greedy and self-centered characters.
In conclusion, the river shows one’s lifestyle and forewarns their death in both novels. It is the most important spiritual aspect of the characters’ lives, literally and figuratively. Both novels had religious and spiritual meaning through the river’s constant appearance, which is similar to constant recurrence of prayer and meditation in one’s life. The river reflected the lifecycle of humans on earth to emphasize the river’s consistent flow. In both books, the river serves as a mirror reflection of the characters’ lives. Whether a character is healthy and opulent, or at the verge of dying , the river always portends that character’s life story and views and acts upon people’s life and death. So the river acts like a judge, ready to take lives of the avaricious. Through the river, both stories acquire overall unity between the characters, the setting, and the plot.
Bibliography:
· Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. New Directions Publishing: New York. 1957.
Suskind, Patrick. Perfume. Vintage Books: New York. 1985
