Decay+&+suffering+-+Jimmy+Pang

__**Decay and Suffering**__

Thesis: In the novel __Siddhartha,__ the author, Hermann Hesse, uses Siddhartha's gradual understanding of suffering as a medium for his journey towards enlightenment. - Although Siddhartha rejects the teachings of Gotama in the book, the path he takes to reach enlightenment is very similar, being the realization of the four noble truths. However, the four noble truths are not mentioned directly in the book but rather seen through Siddhartha's experiences.

The Four Noble Truths of existence all pertain to suffering: - Life is Suffering - Suffering is created by worldly desires - One is free when one can escape desire - To reach enlightenment one should follow the Middle Way.
 * Suffering's role in Buddhism:**

The book is split into two parts, the first part reflects Siddhartha's experience of physical suffering while part two focuses more on mental anguish.

-** "He saw businessmen trading, princes going to the hunt, mourners weeping over their dead, prostitutes offering themselves, doctors attending the sick, priests deciding the day for sowing, lovers making love, mothers soothing their children -- and all were not worth a passing glance, everything lied, stank of lies; they were all illusions of sense, happiness, and beauty. All were doomed to decay. The world tasted bitter. Life was pain(10-11)."
 * Physical Suffering:
 * "Life was pain" directly addresses the first noble truth.
 * In this sentence, Hesse rambles and describes all kinds of people, ranging from businessmen to mothers. This listing and lack of detail serves to emphasize how really their actions are insignificant and only provide illusions of sense, happiness and beauty. Hesse then uses a change in sentence structure to one of shorter length. These last three sentences are very short and blunt and underscore Siddhartha's understanding of the world.
 * "The world tasted bitter," is referring to the suffering of life but may also hold another meaning. Seeing as this is coming from Siddhartha's POV, it could also reflect Siddhartha's life as a Samana.
 * As a Samana, Siddhartha's life is full of physical pain. He has to fast, live in the woods, beg for food, constantly meditate, and go through voluntary suffering and pain to release himself from the Self.

-**"Like a veil, like a thin mist, a weariness settled on Siddhartha, slowly, every day a little thicker, every month a little darker, every year a little heavier. As a new dress grows old with time, loses its bright color, becomes stained and creased, the hems frayed, and here and there weak and threadbare places, so had Siddhartha's new life which he had begun after his parting from Govinda, become old (63)." - "He felt a deep love for the runaway boy, like a wound, and yet felt at the same time that this wound was not intended to fester in him, but that it should heal (103)."
 * Emotional Suffering:
 * In this second section of the book Siddhartha engages himself in the sinful acts of sex and money. This crossing over of lifestyle is symbolized by the crossing over of the river. Hesse uses the simile of a "thin mist" to represent the mental weariness that settles on Siddhartha as a result of his contrasting lifestyle. Hesse's choice of the thin mist is to show how at first the mental suffering wasn't even noticable, perhaps even neglible but gradually it grows "thicker" and darker" and "heavier" until Siddhartha becomes sick of his life. The metaphor of the deterioration gown, something usually viewed as clean and beautiful, serves to show how Siddhartha has grown weaker and how he no longer wants any part of his current life. This eventually compels him to leave town in search of enlightenment once more.
 * Siddhartha experiences further mental anguish when he meets his son who he instantly falls in love with. Although Siddhartha attempts to gain the boy's favor, his son continues to hate him until finally he runs away. This causes Siddhartha to experience emotional pain symbolized by the wound. The metaphor then goes on to state that the wound should heal, showing how Siddhartha will eventually rid himself of the desire for his son's love as opposed to letting the pain eat away at him.

- "What a wonderful sleep it had been! Never had a sleep so refreshed him, so renewed him, so rejuvenated him! (73)"
 * The Third Noble Truth**
 * After leaving the town Siddhartha falls asleep under a tree and awakens as a new man. The leaving of the town represents how Siddhartha has left the world of desires. He has left everything behind him and he feels truly happy the only desire left in him is to reach enlightenment. This is Siddhartha's realization of the Third Noble Truth although not directly stated, that he needs leave all desires in order to achieve enlightenment. The alliteration and repetition of refreshed him, renewed him, rejuvenated him serves to further emphasize this.
 * Siddhartha fully escapes from desire when his son leaves him and he no longer has any ties to his old lives.
 * No longer endures physical pain of a Samana
 * No longer trapped by the world of desire

-** "Every sin already carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men, all sucklings have death within them, all dying people -- eternal life (116)."
 * The Fourth Noble Truth
 * Although Siddhartha reaches a different conclusion then the actual Buddha, they both come to the realization of the middle way - to not engage in extremes. To show this Hesse employs the use of contrast as seen in this quote. Hesse places two direct opposites together stating that each one contains the other, giving the sense that everything meets in the middle. Furthermore Siddhartha's new lifestyle is one of simplicity contrasting with the extremes of being a Samana or merchant in town. This is symbolized by the location of the river which happens to be between the forest, where Siddhartha was a Samana, and the town, where Siddhartha engaged in a life of sinful acts. Siddhartha living on the river represents how he has found a medium between the two extremes of life and has found the "middle" way. Through the gradual understanding of suffering, Siddhartha comes to the realization of the four noble truths, allowing him to attain his goal of Nirvana.