I found it rather disturbing how quickly Siddhartha adjusted to a life of the wealthy. For a Samana, becoming wealthy is a drastic change: going from nothing to abundance. At first Siddhartha, a Samana, does not take wealth seriously, but as time passes, he gets sucked in by wealth. He takes his frustration out through gambling, which eggs his desire for money: "[Siddhartha's] mind was fixed upon new riches after each big loss, and he pursued trade more zealously, forced his debtors with greater stringency to pay" (75). Soon, he is no longer Siddhartha the Samana, but Siddhartha the merchant. It is interesting that he claims to do all this to show his disgust towards wealth: "[Siddhartha] wanted to continue gambling, squanderign, and demonstrating his disdain for wealth" (75). Yet, it is ironic because "[Siddhartha] became impatient when he was not paid promptly, he was no longer kind towards beggars, and he was no longer disposed to give away or even loan money to those who petitioned him," which totally defeats the purpose of him spending money on gambling (75). During this time, he loses the sight of his goal.
Wealth is a bliss but also the origin of many problems
I was surprised that Siddhartha finally reaches his goal at a rather obscure place. I was surprised that he ever reached enlightenment because by the time he found it he had already forgotten his goal. Siddhartha tried so hard in the beggining, exploring and practicing many religions to reach enlightenment; he makes progress but never quiet reaches it. He knows that he'll never get there with the religions at hand and searches for other religions. However, he gets caught up in the merchant's life and forgets all about his original objective to become enlightened. Ironically, he becomes enlightened when he is no longer calculating and searching for the best method. It's intriguing how the ferryman appears to be as enlightened as Gotama. When Govinda visits Siddhartha to ask for guidance, Siddhartha tells Govinda that no words can accurately describe what he knows, which is why other religions failed to guide him to the end. He tells Govinda that everyone must find it for himself by saying words are deceitful: "I can't deny that my words about love seem to contradict Gotama's words. It's for this very reason that I mistrust words so much, because I know this contradiction is a deception" (137).
Ferryman?
Siddhartha brings up many interesting questions about life. I liked the book because I could relate to Siddhartha.
