I'm totally blown away by the softly thoughtful writing of Hermann Hesse and would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this book with others who feel the same. I'm especially interested in classifying his philosophy and with his description of love. The words in quotations belong to Hesse, taken from the ending chapters of Demian. Between the quotes you will find my commentary and questions.
" Our circle also included believers, adherents of certain hopes and healing faiths. There were Buddhists who sought to convert Europe, a disciple of Tolstoi who preached nonresistance to evil, as well as other sects. We in the inner circle listened but accepted none of these teachings as anything but metaphors. We, who bore the mark, felt no anxiety about the shape the future was to take. All of these faiths and teachings seemed to us already dead and useless. The only duty and destiny we acknowledged was that each one of us should become so completely himself, so utterly faithful to the active seed which Nature planted within him, that in living out its growth he could be surprised by nothing unknown to come."
What exactly is the mark? I suppose it could be any mark where one felt an affinity. The book seems to imply the nobility of individualism within a spiritual realm. How do we classify Hermann Hesse philosophically? Is he a Pantheist, a Deist, or what? Obviously he is an existentialist, but, is that the only "ism" we will link to his name? Parts of the book remind me of Buddhism, for example, when Sinclair and Pistorius were about to discuss philosophy and instead, ended up just sitting in front of the fire for an hour or more. Sinclair was most content with the sitting and did not consider it time wasted, which reminded me of meditation. Not to mention that he also wrote Siddhartha, which I have not yet read yet. What shall we call Hesse?
Remember that Sinclair's ideal woman was actually the mother of his good childhood friend Max Demian, even though he did not see her actual face until his college days.
Her name is Frau Eva, and she tells Sinclair:
" You must not give way to desires which you don't believe in. I know what you desire. You should, however, either be capable of renouncing these desires or feel wholly justified in having them. Once you are able to make your request in such a way that you will be quite certain of its fulfillment, then the fulfillment will come. But at present you alternate between desire and renunciation and we are afraid all the time. All that must be over come. Let me tell you a story."
This would seem to be so true, there is no room for indeciveness within the realms of passion, they negate one another. I love the fact that Frau Eva is almost neutral in sex, although still basically feminine. It is interesting that Sinclair finds her boyish charm to be seductive in a spiritually, physical, out of reach kind of way. Do you also feel that Hesse is writing of himself when he writes from the view of Emil Sinclair, or do you think I'm taking creative liberties in that assumption?
"And she told me about a youth who had fallen in love with a planet. He stood by the sea, stretched out his arms and prayed to the planet, dreamed of it, and directed all his thoughts to it. But he knew, or felt he knew, that a star cannot be embraced by a human being. He considered it his fate to love a heavenly body without any hope of fulfillment and out of this insight he constructed an entire philosophy of renunciation and silent, faithful suffering that would improve and purify him. Yet all his dreams reached the planet. Once he stood again on the high cliff at night by the sea and gazed at the planet and burned with love for it. And at the height of his longing he leaped into the emptiness toward the planet, but at the instant of leaping "it's impossible" flashed once more through his mind. There he lay on the shore, shattered. He has not understood how to love. If at the instant of leaping he had had the strength of faith in the fulfillment of his love he would have soared into the heights and been united with the star."
That star is every dream real and imagine, realized or forgotten. It is a dream which seems to be out of reach, and therefore, many do not attempt defamation of gravity. I'm wondering where Hesse was within his own life when he wrote this book, between which marriage, or during which. The above paragraph deals heavily with having faith in ones own sense of self and the importance of following through in that quest.

"Another time she told me a different story, concerning a lover whose love was unrequited. He withdrew completely within himself, believing his love would consume him. The world became lost to him, he no longer noticed blue sky and green woods, he no longer heard the brook murmur; his ears had turned deaf to the notes of the harp: nothing mattered any more; he had become poor and wretched. Yet his love increased and he would rather have died or been ruined than renounce possessing this beautiful woman. Then he felt that his passion had consumed everything else within him and become so strong, so magnetic that the beautiful woman must follow. She came to him and he stood with outstretched arms ready to draw her to him. As she stood before him she was completely transformed and with awe he felt and saw that he had won back all he had previously lost. She stood before him, and surrendered herself to him and sky, forest and brook all came toward him in new and resplendent colors, belonged to him, and spoke to him in his own language. And instead of merely winning a woman he embraced the entire world and every star in heaven glowed within him and sparkled with joy in his soul. He had loved and found himself. But most people love to lose themselves." Hermann Hesse
Here we have the real clincher " He had loved and found himself. But most people love to lose themselves."
This line plays over and over in my head like a my favorite cut on the CD left on repeat. Agnostic as I claim at times, I'm reminded of the line in the broadway version of Les Mis, " To love another person is to see the face of God". Leaving the musical out of this, what does this mean, to love and find oneself instead of losing oneself? Does this mean that in the act of loving minus ego entrapments, one finds one's true self? Does it mean that a mirror develops when two are so close as this, with a desire to be honest above all else? What does it mean?

Thank you very much
Kiki

Hi Kiki...

Well, Kiki first off I must confess I've been studying Hesse for many years and Demian is one of my two favorite novels of his (The Glass Bead Game is the other.) In your posting you've touched on some of the book's principal themes and even after some eighty years scholars are still arguing. So with that said I'll give you some thoughts that occur to me as I read through your comments again.

You ask "What exactly is the mark?" As Hesse specifically indicates in the novel, the "mark" is borrowed from the Bible's Cain myth, and in fact Hesse had (thanks in large part to the influence of his parents) extensive familiarity with the Bible. This is reflected in the extensive use in this novel of Christian symbols. Yet, as you have already discovered, Buddhist elements are also present. Somewhat later in his life--but before he composed Demian--Hesse turned to the religions of the East and he eventually sought to incorporate into his own life the best of what humanity had to offer. This idea received fuller treatment later on in The Glass Bead Game.

Soo..hmm...what shall we call Hesse? Many literary types see Hesse as at best a second-rate author, yet people continue to read his works and feel moved by them, which suggests that he deserves better treatment. An excellent treatment of this topic can be found in Theodore Ziolkowski's book "The Novels of Hermann Hesse: A Study in Theme and Structure" which includes an insightful chapter in the end on Hesse's place in German literature.

Do I feel as if Hermann Hesse's and Emil Sinclair's perspectives are interchangeable? Absolutely. I think Hesse was an especially autobiographical writer and his work is at least in part an effort to know himself. One Hesse scholar (Joseph Mileck) accurately described Hesse's output as "confessional".

Hesse drafted this book during World War I after his first marriage had collapsed. By that time he had moved from southern Germany to Switzerland and spent most of the war doing work for German POWs. He had already experienced a psychological collapse and had undergone psychoanalysis, so much of the dreamy imagery here reflects that.

At the moment I'm having a little difficulty thinking of a good response to your last couple lines, so I'll have to contemplate them a while longer. But I think one of Demian's central messages is that the truly "enlightened" learn to really know themselves, however daunting the process may be, and avoid simply falling back into the complacency of the "masses", thus the line about finding oneself instead of losing oneself.

So, Kiki, that's my initial reaction to your comments. I'd be curious to read any other opinions. And Kiki, if you'd like some other insights post again and I can give you some additional pointers; the secondary literature for example on this book is quite substantial.

Keith Murray

Thank you very much Keith Murray, your opinions are most appreciated. It stands to reason that Hesse held a belief in God along with several other types of philosophy. I wonder if he abandoned the idea of God in "The Glass Bead Game", or if he returns to the theology of his childhood?
I have a few more quotes listed below, followed by more of my comments and questions.
Max, speaking to Sinclair:
" this is one of the very places that reveals the poverty of this religion most distinctly. The point is that this God of both Old and New Testaments is certainly an extraordinary figure but not what he purports to represent. He is all that is good, noble, fatherly, beautiful, elevated, sentimental - true! But the world consists of something else besides. And what is left over is ascribed to the devil, this entire slice of world, this entire half is suppressed and hushed up. In exactly the same way they praise God as the father of all life but simply refuse to say a word about our sexual life on which it's all based, describing it whenever possible as sinful, the work of the devil. I have no objection to worshiping this God Jehovah, far from it. But I mean we ought to consider everything sacred, the entire world, not merely this artificially separated half! Thus alongside the divine service we should also have a service for the devil. I feel that would be right. Otherwise you must create for yourself a God that contains the devil too in front of which you needn't close your eyes when the most natural things in the world take place."


The above passage implies a recognition of the improbability of reality being dualistic, which is a very eastern tradition of thought. Yet he clings still to some metaphors from Christian theology, such as the story of the Mark of Cain. I'm also reminded of Richard Bach, especially in his novel "One", in which a spirituality is suggested without a particular vehicle to drive it home. What is it that connects these two books?
Furthermore, Max goes on to say, " We talk too much,"...."Clever talk is absolutely worthless. All you do in the process is lose yourself. And to lose yourself is a sin. One has to be able to crawl completely inside oneself, like a tortoise."
Again, there is mixed imagery here, a conflict between Christian thought and something I'll label eastern for now. The word "sin" certainly isn't Buddhist, yet, it might go more in keeping with Hinduism. The idea that expaining ideas loses something, reminds me of both Kierkegaard and Buddhism. Sinclair then states, in regards to Max:
"I trembled at the sight. Dead, I thought, almost saying it aloud. My spellbound eyes were fixed on his face, on this pale stone mask,, and I felt: this is the real Demian. When he walked beside me or talked to me- that was only half of him, someone who periodically plays a role, adapts himself, who out of sheer compaission does as the others do. The real Demian, however, looked like this, as primeval, animal, marble, beautiful and cold, dead yet secretly filled with fabulous life. And around him this quiet emptiness, this ether, interstellar space, this lonely death!"
"Now he has gone completely into himself, I felt, and I trembled. Never had I been so alone. I had no part in him: he was inaccessible, he was more remote from me than if he had been on the most distant island in the world."
Is the state in which Max is described above not unlike the meditative state practiced in many eastern religions? Is Hesse suggesting that the true self has no interaction with the outside world, that all interactions are "polite" role play?
Again the contrast, for I find no philosophy that I am familiar with that combines these elements in exactly these same ways, which would also point towards his hold on individualism.
This time, it is Pistorius, the philosophical, passionate musician who speaks,"...live those dreams, play with them, build altars to them. It is not yet the ideal but it points in the right direction. Whether you and I and a few others will renew the world someday remains to be seen. But within ourselves we must renew it each day, otherwise we just aren't serious. Don't forget that ! You are eighteen years old, Sinclair, you don't go running to prostitutes. you must have dreams of love, you must have desires. Perhaps you're made in such a way that you are afraid of them. Don't be. They are the best things you have. ....You aren't allowed to be afraid of anything, you can't consider prohibited anything that the soul desires."


Here we go again. The soul, is what exactly?It must be that inner tortoise animal which Hesse seems to feel is immortal. Faith in one's own inner self, and the courage to listen and follow that voice is emphasized once again, although he still holds on to ideas such as a separately existing "soul". In this way, dreams become concepts, which seem remotely removed from Buddhist philosophy. The more I think of it, the more Hesse seems like a hodge podge of this and that; a patch work quilt sewn together with his own life. He finally renounces Pistorius, when he recognizes that Pistorius is basically only retelling tales from the past, even though they come in books as big as the Old and New Testament. He was not on his own in terms of thinking, he was unable to leave the infertile field of his fathers design. At that point, Sinclair parted ways philosophically with Pistorius.
It is also interesting how he is always drawn back to Max throughout the book. Perhaps Max is an ideal he wished to achieve within himself. The components of Max he saw in his mother melted the duality between the sexes. Indeed he felt at home within her house and garden. Perhaps max Demian is his true self.
I apologized for the length of this post. I had no idea what I would write as I sat down to write, however, this all seemed relevant. Again, I would appreciate any comments.
Thank
you,
Kiki

Kiki,

Well, your questions can almost be compared to "What's the meaning of life?"

Hesse spent his whole life 'answering the call'. And so it is very difficult to take a quote from him and give perspective to it. It really is...

How many licks does it take to get to the center of the lollipop? Every person has to find out for his or herself.

But while you're trying to find out, don't forget that candy is good -lollipop is good.

Warm regards,
Duke

Hi Kiki. I' ve read all your questions and ideas about demian and i am amused with your knowledge, i thought a lot about demian, actually he "brought me across". No matter, i have an advice for you: your answers don't lay in some book or on the net. You know where you should gaze long enough...and don't let your tool became your goal. thanks!

there are many different oppinions about Demian, but i never had an idea what he said to Cromer after what Cromer avoided Sinclair. Does anyone have some idea?

It is amazing what a month in time can do to a priority. The emphasis is still there, but Demian is no longer the object of my curiosity. I've left Hermann Hesse for a while, and have been reading Richard Bach, and also the Cosmic Consciousness book by Richard Bucke. Life is like a lollipop, sometimes I think I shouldn't lick too much of it, but the stay from the sweets only makes me want it more when next I return.
Thank you Duke, and Nemanja for participating in my Hesse infatuation. Nemanja, I do not recall the part in the book to which you are referring. Perhaps a quote would remind me.

Hi Kiki,

I've read your questions and with greatest interest the citation you make about Tolstoyans and the like. Do you know that Hesse is describing in this passage the spritual commune of Monnte Verit¦ in Switzerland where he found his guru Gusto Graser? Read 'Mountain of Truth' by Martin Green and you will find the real scene behind the novel. So much for now. For more information contact me:
Gustomueller@web.de

or see: www.gusto-graeser.de.vu

thank you

I don't read or speak German.