Motif in Siddhartha

                        A motif in Siddhartha would be the bird in the cage. On page 82, Hermann Hesse uses the bird motif to describe Siddhartha's new behavior. "Kamala kept a small rare songbird in a small golden cage. ...The little bird was dead and lay stiff on the floor. He took it out, held it a moment in his hand and then threw it away on the road, and at the same moment he was horrified and his heart ached as if he has thrown away with this dead bird all that was good and of value in himself, (Hesse,82)." The motif of the bird shown here suggests that the bird is how his life changed. He changed from a caring individual, to a man who doesn't care about other life. Another example of this motif is, "she opened the door of the cage, took the bird out and let it fly away. For a long time she looked after disappearing bird, (Hesse, 85)." The bird symbolizes Siddhartha and Kamala's relationship. She kept him with her, and as soon as Siddhartha left, she let the bird go meaning she let Siddhartha go and watched him disappear. This motif shows up again when he is talking about how his journey can be shown as a bird. "He thought long of the change in him, listened to the bird singing happily. If this bird within him had died, would he have perished? (Hesse,99)." This suggests the bird in the inner Self of Siddhartha. It is being compared to Atman. The motif is the bird further explores the topic of inner self and characterization of Siddhartha leading a potential theme.