Siddhartha's Bird Motif

One of the motifs in the novel Siddhartha is Kamala's song bird. The bird first shows up in a dream that Siddhartha had about losing himself in the chapter Samsara. This is shown by the quote "Kamala kept asmall rare songbird in a small golden cage. It was about this bird he dreamt. This bird, which usually sang in the morning, became mute, and as this surprised him, he went up to the cage and looked inside. The little bird was dead... and then he threw it away on the road, and at the same moment he was horrified and his heart ached as if he had thrown away... all that was good and of value in himself" (on page 82). This quote was the first time this motif showed up and when we first learned of the birds meaning of representing Siddhartha's spirit, and all that was good in Siddhartha. This is expanded in the quote "When she heard news of Siddhartha's dissapearance, she went to the window where she kept a rare songbird in a golden cage. She opened the door of the cage, took the bird out and let it fly away" (page 85). This expands on the previous quotes meaning showing that the bird is a representation of Siddhartha's spirit. That as Siddhartha decides to free himself, and then Kamala releases the bird shows how Siddhartha had freed his spirit and soul just as a bird uncaged. Lastly the quote "He thought of the change in him, listened to the bird sing happily. If the bird within him had died, would he have perished? No something else in him had died," (page 98). This shows that the bird is more than just a representation of Siddhartha, of his spirit and life force. This shows that the bird was actually part of Siddhartha and was Siddhartha's self and inner voice. This quote is one of many where the bird guides him, or he listens to the bird which is what continues progress within the novel. This is  important as the motif shows a lot about Siddhartha's spirituality, how it has changed, and where it will go next. This shows how Siddhartha's spirituality has now changed to be not indulgent, or repressive, or arrogant but rather sweet and harmonic (like a birds song) which is explained more within the chapter By The River. But the bird, the idea of him listening and learning shows what is to come next, how Siddhartha must now learn how to listen and become in tune with the world to achieve enlightenment. This also makes understanding Siddhartha's inner voice a lot more understandable and interesting and makes Siddhartha's relation with his inner voice seem a lot less like him talking to himself. That is one of the motifs in Siddhartha so far.