Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The Songbird


     Of all of the reoccurring motifs in Siddhartha, the bird motif is the most prevalent and commonly found motif in the entire novel.  It can be found right as the story begins, referring to Siddhartha as a falcon, in the quote “…in the shade of the Banyan fig Siddhartha grew up, the handsome son of the Brahmin, the young falcon, together with Govinda, his friend, the son of a Brahmin” (Hesse 5).  This statement is important because it introduces us to the motif.  As this is said, it seems out of place, as if it were to come back later in the story in a different form.  It also acts to compare Siddhartha to a falcon, as in he is strong and prideful.  A second occurrence of the bird motif is found in this quote later in the novel, during Siddhartha’s “Bird Dream”: “He dreamed that the bird had gone dumb, the bird which otherwise always sang at morning time, and when this struck him, he stepped up to the cage and looked inside, where the little bird lay dead and stiff at the bottom of the cage.  He took the bird out, weighted him a moment in his hand and then cast him out, out into the alley, and at the very same moment he was terribly frightened, and his heart so pained him…” (Hesse 66).  This quote is significant because it serves a metaphor for the death of Siddhartha’s inner “song”, his training as a Shramana that had all gone to waste by living with the “child people”.  It also harkens to the beginning when he is referred to as a falcon, as described previously.  Finally, a third quote showing the bird motif is found in the beginning of the chapter “By the River” and is: “Dead was the songbird of which he had dreamed.  Dead was the bird in his heart” (Hesse 69).  This quote is significant as to build upon the idea that his past self as a Shramana has died inside him through his living with the “child people”, and that it may or may not be reclaimed.  Overall, it seems that the bird theme was used to represent Siddhartha’s inner self, that which was a Brahmin, to a Shramana, to a “child person”.

2 comments:

  1. I agree with your points, and you use good vocab to help describe your points.

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  2. You used very great points, as well as explaining the sort of "out-of-place" quote near the beginning. That was a good connection. Nice

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