Nature's effect on Siddhartha

One of the many motifs in Siddhartha is the Nature through which Siddhartha travels and studies. This is first shown when Siddhartha travels with the Samanas. At this point in the story, Siddhartha tries to block out all that is around him so it’s about trying to show that nature isn’t important in transcending the self, but this part of the motif sets up the rest of the story for the reader. This is contradicted when Siddhartha breaks off from Govinda and begins to try to discover the self. This part of the story focuses on the beauty of nature and how big the world is and how it takes more than meditation to learn what it has to teach. These two different parts of the story raise the question of if it’s better to block nature out or to study it for what it has to offer. A third part of the motif is shown with the river and the Ferryman. Siddhartha is curious about the river and what it itself has to teach. The river shows how long life is and how it continues to flow on without time. The author chose this particular motif to utilize because of how much discussion and thought can be put into its purpose and how much of an effect it has on Siddhartha and the overall story. It also explores a theme of the actual gathering of knowledge in nature and how much it affects all the lives on Earth.The motif of nature gives the reader an extra insight on Siddhartha and his path to enlightenment and should be looked at more in the future.