AP PREP POST 1: SIDDHARTHA

1. If you were the river, would you be enlightenment or would you know enlightenment? In other words, what’s up with the river? What is it’s relation to enlightenment?
2. Siddhartha features substantial activity and narrative action. At the same time, it is about one man’s largely internal spiritual quest. What is the relationship between the internal and exterior worlds of Siddhartha? How does Siddhartha negotiate these worlds?
3. What does enlightenment look like in Siddhartha? Is it a feeling? An attitude?
4. Most literary scholars agree that Siddhartha was prompted by Herman Hesse’s fixation on Eastern spirituality. Is there a case to be made that Siddhartha is designed to celebrate Eastern religion? Is Hesse’s treatment of spirituality as relevant today as it was when he wrote the novel?
5. What purpose does self-denial serve in Siddhartha? What about self-indulgence?

-All of these questions can be found at the pages linked here

http://www.shmoop.com/siddhartha/questions.html

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/siddhartha/study.html


I'm interested in reading more of Siddhartha, beyond the passage from class. I want to be able to think more clearly about these questions and create my own satisfying answers.