Herman Hesse's Siddhartha and the Subversion of the Hero's Journey

    One of the most unique aspects of Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha is the way Hesse subverts expectations of Joseph Campbell’s 17-step model of the hero’s journey in Siddhartha’s hero’s journey. Throughout the novel, Hesse combines various steps of the hero’s journey. For example, the Ultimate Boon and the Apotheosis are one and the same by the end of Siddhartha’s journey because of the nature of Siddhartha’s goal. In addition, Hesse reorganizes many of the original steps of the hero’s journey, such as the steps of the Belly of the Whale and Crossing the 1st Threshold. Even the ending of the novel is not exactly the same traditional ending of Joseph Campbell’s model of the hero’s journey. Finally, another example of Hesse subverting expectations of the hero’s journey in Siddhartha’s journey is in how he depicts the hero’s relationships, such as the Supernatural Aid, which Hesse writes as Siddhartha’s inner “voice.”

    One smaller way Hesse subverts the reader’s expectations with the hero’s journey is how he characterizes Siddhartha’s supernatural aid. According to Joseph Campbell’s model, the supernatural aid is a figure that appears once the hero is committed to their journey, acting as a guide or mentor throughout the hero’s story. Campbell describes this figure as a “benign, protecting power of destiny” (Wikipedia). His description evokes the image of a wise, older mentor figure for the hero, like Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars. However, characters that would fit this description in Siddhartha’s journey do not play the role of supernatural aid to Siddhartha, who explicitly refuses to receive aid from these figures. For example, Gotama is a perfect candidate for supernatural aid. However, Siddhartha refuses to gain any help from Gotama because he is not the key to Siddhartha’s success in attaining enlightenment. In “Gotama,” he says to Gotama, “I am going on my own way—not to seek another better and better doctrine, for I know there is none, but to leave all doctrines and all teachers and to reach my goal alone—or die” (Hesse 34). Siddhartha explicitly refuses any external help, including Gotama’s teachings and believes that in order to achieve enlightenment, he must do so alone, just as the Buddha had. No teachings can truly help one reach enlightenment as it is a moment one has to specifically experience. While Campbell’s depiction of the supernatural aid suggests an outside source for this aid, Hesse instead uses a source within the hero to guide him: Siddhartha’s own internal guide towards the path to enlightenment. It seems that Hesse characterizes the supernatural aid as Siddhartha’s inner voice, which he hears within himself throughout the novel. For example, he hears this voice when he must stay away from certain temptations, such as the woman in the forest. He also hears this voice when he finally escapes the Samsara of business. It is Siddhartha himself who is Siddhartha’s supernatural aid.

    Another way Hesse subverts expectations of the hero’s journey in Siddhartha is the way he structures the moments of the Belly of the Whale and Crossing the 1st Threshold in Siddhartha’s journey. While Cambell’s model places the crossing of the first threshold before the Belly of the Whale, during the chapters “Gotama” and “Awakening,” Hesse rearranges these stages, writing Siddhartha to first undergo the belly of the whale before finally crossing the first threshold into the unknown world. In “Gotama,” Siddhartha makes the realization that it is not the Buddha that will lead him towards the path of enlightenment but instead himself and his own personal journey towards enlightenment. He states that from Gotama, he has been given “Siddhartha, myself” (Hesse 36). This realization—catalyzed by his encounter with Gotama—becomes a prompt for Siddhartha’s journey towards self-discovery and enlightenment, which we begin to see in the chapter “Awakening.” “Awakening” is largely a chapter where Siddhartha reflects deeply on what he learned in the previous chapter along with his previous mindset and worldview. Throughout the entire chapter, Hesse incorporates imagery of the cycle of death and rebirth, making direct parallels to the rebirth theme of the Belly of Whale. For example, when Siddhartha describes his great realization, he states, “I have indeed awakened and have only been born today” (Hesse 40). At this moment, Siddhartha realizes that instead of relying on external guidance, he must learn from within himself in order to follow in the Buddha’s footsteps. This realization is a major catalyst for Siddhartha’s real journey into the unknown world, and in this way, Siddhartha has to undergo a metamorphosis (the Belly of the Whale) in order to cross the 1st threshold rather than cross the threshold first. 

    While the chapters “Gotama,” “Awakening,” and “Kamala” are an example of Hesse reorganizing stages of Campbell’s hero’s journey model, in the final chapters of Siddhartha, Hesse blends some of the final stages of the hero’s journey model. By the end of the novel, Siddhartha experiences a moment of Apotheosis and achieves the Ultimate Boon through this moment of Apotheosis. Campbell describes the moment of Apotheosis as a major moment of realization where the hero attains a greater understanding crucial for the hardest part of his journey. Following it is the Ultimate Boon, which he describes as the moment in which the hero ultimately achieves their goal. In Siddhartha, Siddhartha aims to attain enlightenment, or a greater understanding of the Self. When Siddhartha is listening to the river with Vasudeva in “Om,” he describes this moment, stating, “They were all interwoven and interlocked, entwined in a thousand ways. And all the voices, all the goals, all the yearnings, all the sorrows, all the pleasures, all the good and evil, all of them together was the world. All of them together was the stream of events, the music of life [...] but heard them all, the whole, the unity; then the great song of a thousand voices consisted of one word: Om—perfection” (Hess 135-136). In this scene, Siddhartha finally attains enlightenment and gains a deeper understanding of the world around him. While the Apotheosis leads to the Ultimate Boon in Campbell’s model, Hesse blends these stages because of the nature of Siddhartha’s goal, which is one completely based on self-realization and inner development.

    The hero’s journey of Siddhartha initially seems like one that would strictly adhere to Joseph Campbell’s 17 step model of the hero’s journey. However, there are many subtle ways in which Herman Hesse subverts reader’s expectations of the hero’s journey in Siddhartha’s hero’s journey, resulting in an engaging and intriguing story for the reader. The way the novel emphasizes looking within oneself for a greater understanding of the Self and the universe influences the way Hesse subverts expectations of the hero’s journey monomyth. Hesse’s subversions of the hero’s journey monomyth reflect the way Siddhartha’s journey revolves around epiphanies, realizations, and internal growth, creating a hero’s journey that largely takes place in the internal environment—the mind—rather than the physical world quest as one would expect with a typical hero’s journey.