This is a close read and deep dive into the first sentence of the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Here is a podcast version of the blog post for anyone who would rather listen than read.
Special thanks to the Redditors who helped me along the way. Below is the first sentence in German as Hesse originally published it, and then the English translation I prefer, at the bottom of the post are four other English translations.
Original German
Im Schatten des Hauses, in der Sonne des Flußufers bei den Booten, im Schatten des Salwaldes, im Schatten des Feigenbaumes wuchs Siddhartha auf, der schöne Sohn des Brahmanen, der junge Falke, zusammen mit Govinda, seinem Freunde, dem Brahmanensohn. (audio)
English Translation by Gunther Olesch, Anke Dreher, Amy Coulter, Stefan Langer, and Semyon Chaichenets
"In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the riverbank near the boats, in the shade of the Sal-wood forest, in the shade of the fig tree is where Siddhartha grew up, the handsome son of the Brahmin, the young falcon, together with his friend Govinda, son of a Brahmin."
First Impression
The first sentence isn't going to make many best first sentence lists. It doesn't hook or instantly engage readers: nothing funny, nothing paradoxical, nothing witty, nothing exciting, nothing exceptional, etc. But, it isn't bad either. In fact it's quite informative.
It is a long sentence with numerous details to set the scene. The setting is rural Indian. It confirms Siddhartha is the protagonist. It describes Siddhartha. He is young, handsome, educated, and shares attributes with a falcon. Falcons are predators with great vision. The Peregrine falcon is the fastest moving creature on Earth. It appears Siddhartha has a privileged life in the shade, near a river. What more could he possible want??
Repetition
Repetition is a literary and poetic device. Repetition reinforces and or brings attention to an idea. Let's follow the repetition down the rabbit hole.
The "In the... of the..." structure repeats four times. This structural repetition mimics a prayer, chant, or mantra. Here is a one of the most popular vedic mantras on youtube. This is the type of mantra that the Brahmins during Siddhartha's time would have chanted. Below are the lyrics of the first mantra in the video.
Om, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ
Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ
Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu
Mā kashchit duḥkha bhāgbhavet
Oṁ
The meaning of the mantra is beside the point. But this mantra has a structural repetition of "sarve." Readers could easily read Siddhartha's first sentence using a sing song rhythm. The lyrical structure further establishes the setting of the story in India with characters that would be chanting mantras while following their religious customs.
The Brahmins
Brahmins are the highest social class in the traditional Hindu caste system. Brahmins are the priestly class and the spiritual leaders. Both Siddhartha and Govinda are Brahmin. That's important. They can chill in the shade while they study.
Another aspect, Branmins are spiritual leaders. Siddhartha and Govinda are spiritual leaders for the readers. In the story, Siddhartha's and Govinda's approaches/philosophies are contrary to each other. Govinda is introduced as "his friend," Govinda is second to Siddhartha, as the title suggestions. Siddhartha is philosophically and literarily (literature, not literal) superior to Govinda.
The Shade
India is hot, and shade is a lot more pleasant than the sun in hot conditions. So the shade is further displaying Siddhartha's privilege as a Brahmin. As mentioned above, Siddhartha is the top of the social food chain. He gets to read, write, learn, and think in the shade.
"In the shade of the" is repeated three times and "In the sunshine of
the" is only used once. The repetition of shade is a blatant signal by
Hesse. In German, the word "schatten" is used for both shade and shadow. four of the five translators I shared choose to use "shade" instead of shadow. But the double meaning in German with shade and shadows should be remembered. Shade is a nicer word than shadow. A stranger in the shade sounds a lot more friendly than the stranger in the shadow. As all English speakers know, shadows are darker than shade, literally and figuratively. Shade and shadows are powerful images. Hesse is making a powerful statement in the first sentence.
The philosophy behind shadows is immense. A recent biography of Herman Hesse is subtitled, The Wander and His Shadow. This is a direct link to Friedich Nietzsche' Human, All Too Human, where the third part of the book is titled "The Wander and His Shadow," using the German word "Schatten." (I'm going to dive deeper into Nietsche and shadows later) Philosophers and literary authors cannot discuss shadows without alluding to Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Nietzsche, a philosopher, and Hesse, a Nietzsche fan and philosophical fiction author, do not use shadows lightly, pun intended. They both know that shadows link to Plato's Cave.
For Plato's prisoners in the cave, the shadows on the wall of the cave are reality. As far as the prisoners know, the material objects casting shadows do not exist, so they assume the shadows are the true reality. But the shadows are illusions. Plato extends this analogy to suggest that humans are only seeing shadows of the real world. There is more to Plato's allegory, and I strongly recommend anyone unfamiliar with the Allegory of the Cave to go read it! One sentence summary for the first sentence of Siddhartha: shadows represent illusions.
It only takes one small step for readers to connect the shade of the objects to implied illusions. Siddhartha, Govinda, the Brahmins, and company, see below, are living in the shade, the shadows, the illusionary world. I'm cherry picking below to create a literary analysis that fits with the remainder of the novel. This is not a philosophical argument. Let's keep going.
The House
The house provides security and shelter. The house is their home, their way of life. The house and where they live is the Brahmin lifestyle. They're living in a shadow. The Brahmins don't realize they're living an illusion because they do not see the world as it is. They only see the world as they see it. The Brahmins are somewhat aware of this, but their customs and traditions are practices to an illusion. The Brahmins are prisoners in a cave. Siddhartha needs to escape the cave; he needs to leave his house; he needs to look for the light, the truth, enlightenment.
The Sal-wood Forrest
In Hinduism the Sal-wood is a scared tree that is associated with Vishnu, a main God. In Buddhism, the Buddha's mother was grasping a sal tree when she gave birth to the Buddha. And when the Buddha died, he was lying between sal trees.
Vishnu, the god of gods, is casting a shadow, implying further that Hinduism is an illusion keeping prisoners in their caves. And so is the The Buddha's birth, death, and Buddhism.The Fig Tree
There is a native fig tree in India called a cluster fig. The fig tree produces the fig fruit. It's one of the most successful fruit trees. There is a lot of diversity in the species, and figs are huge global producers. The fig is sweet, and people like sweets.
The fig tree has roots in both Hinduism and Buddhism. But the most well know religious roots of the fig tree go back to Adam and Eve. The fig is the most likely fruit an Adam and Eve would have ate. In Genesis, Adam and Eve covered themselves in fig leaves after eating the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve, the first humans, the original sinners, are eating figs and covering themselves in fig leaves. Even Muhammad, the last prophet, boasted about the fig tree being from paradise.
A biblical phrase, Micah 4:4, "Each man under his own vine and fig tree," is a phrase that has been used to signal peace and prosperity.
All these allusions to the fig, peace and prosperity. Adam and Eve, original sin, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, are all ideas casting shadows and illusions.
Between the three objects presented in the shade, Hesse successfully casts the major world religions as illusions. Religions are keeping people in their caves, imprisoned. So what's left? What's in the light?
The Light
There is one object in the sunshine, in the light, the river. This is a huge signal to readers. I double checked to see if enlighten and light share similar root words in German, and they do! see below for the German translations. The connection between light and enlightenment is present in German. In fact the word "leuchten" (to shine) is the root word for "erleuchten" (enlighten). So in German, sunshine is directly linked to enlightenment. The light is enlightenment. The light will free the prisoners from the cave.
The river is in the light; the river should be the path. Hesse is telling readers in the first sentence that the river should be the solution. Siddhartha and Govinda must lead the readers to the river. And if the first sentence is correct, the river will be the path.
The River!
The river is a symbol that speaks for itself. But this close read wouldn’t be complete without mentioning: one can’t step in the same river twice. That is a paraphrase of Heraclitus. Heraclitus’ concept of the unity of opposites is a philosophical idea that German language thinkers have greatly expanded. Hegal has a synthesis of opposing ideas; Carl Jung’s concept of the shadows (which I need to investigate further) is related to opposing forces; Friedrich Nietzche’s ideas revolve around opposing forces competing for the will to power. And these great intellectuals all had significant influences on Herman Hesse.
Readers can apply any other river ideas that come to mind.
Next Step
To find if this first sentence analysis is correct, follow Siddhartha and Govinda on their journey, and read the book!
Other English Translations
"In the shade of the house, in the sunlight on the riverbank where the boats were moored, in the shade of the sal wood and the shade of the fig tree, Siddhartha grew up, the Brahmin’s handsome son, the young falcon, together with his friend Govinda, the son of a Brahmin." Translated by Joachim Neugroschel
"In the shade of the house, in the sunshine on the river bank by the boats, in the shade of the sallow wood and the fig tree, Siddhartha, the handsome Brahmin’s son, grew up with his friend Govinda." Translated by Hilda Rosner
"In the shadow of the house, in the sun on the riverbank by the boats, in the shadow of the sal-tree forest, in the shadow of the fig tree, Siddhartha, the beautiful brahmin's son, the young falcon, grew up with his friend, the brahmin's son Govinda." Translated by Sherab Chodzin Kohn
"In the shade of the house, in the sun on the river bank by the boats, in the shade of the sal forest, in the shade of the fig tree grew up Siddhartha, the beautiful son of the Brahmin, the young falcon, together with Govinda, his friend, the son of the Brahmin." Translated by Google
German Translations
No comments:
Post a Comment