A Bank of Flux

                A recurring image or motif in Siddhartha was a river. “Dreams and restless thoughts came flowing to him from the river (Hesse5).” The purpose of the river is to establish the idea that life is like a river and the water is the flow that every individual takes, but Siddhartha is different. Siddhartha learns from the lives of others by observing them from the river bank. “It is a very beautiful river. I love it above everything. I have always learned something from it. One can learn much from a river (Hesse49).” He is not in it, he is not following it, and he is not opposing it. Siddhartha is an observer. “There was a tree on the river bank, a cocoanut tree. Siddhartha leaned against it, placed his arm around the trunk and looked down into the green water which flowed beneath him (Hesse88).” Throughout the story Siddhartha is in a constant flux with himself. He doesn’t know what he must do to separate himself from the river.