The River

I believe that a motif of this story is the river. The river signifies a life path or his own path. He doesn't realize that it is more of an example of his journey but that he is following the river to the place or town(as stated in the book) that could be the end to his journey. He had the dream about the woman and drinking milk from her breast, but at the same time why did he have that dream just then and not while he was at his own house. A specific line that brings in the river motif is,"As the day began, Siddhartha asked his host, the ferryman, to take him across the river." (Hesse 48) This particular statement says to me that the ferryman is like his guidence and Siddhartha is the soul being guided. Also,"It is a beautiful river,"he said to his companion.(Hesse 48) This line I believe tells the reader that he is saying that his life is beautiful but he is just to modest to tell anyone else. He feels relief when he sees the river because he is a part of the river because the river is a part of nature. Also,"One can learn much from a river." (Hesse 48) Although he is human lets just asume that he is a fish in the river and he has to survive. So he feeds off the river, breeds in the water, and learns to be a fish that is just like a human learning to live and survive with what we have. That is his path and he is learning from his path. This is significant to the story because it explains the growth that he as an indivdual is experiencing.

By: Caitlyn Nelson