Polarities: A Motif in Siddhartha

Siddhartha goes through many different stages in his path to enlightenment. His main struggle is finding the right way; he is always on polar opposites of the spectrum. Sometimes, he deprives himself to an extreme, or else he lives in luxury which is unfit for disconnecting from the Self and material world. When Siddhartha is with the Samanas, he realizes that "amongst all of the Samanas, probably not even one will attain Nirvana" (Hesse 18). The Samanas trick themselves and their bodies by extreme fasting and depravation, and believe they are on the path to enlightenment, when in reality they will not achieve this. In his journey with the Samanas, Siddhartha experience one end of the spectrum. But after his visit to Gotama, he realizes that Gotama “has given to [him] Siddhartha, [him] self” (Hesse 36). This is his turning point. Siddhartha realizes that he has not been living, but rather continuing a life of extreme hardship of which is unnecessary, because he is his own teacher. Thus, he continues to a village and awakens his senses, tastes “riches, passion, and power” (Hesse 75). However, he soon realizes he has once again gone too far to the other extreme. He has become lost in the material world; and with each of these representations, one can see the presence of polarities as a motif in Siddhartha.