I. Executive Summary: The Journey of Adolescent Identity
Understanding adolescent identity development requires looking at the convergence of the ego and the transcendent self. In this analysis of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, we explore how the “Hero’s Quest” serves as a roadmap for young adults transitioning from childhood dependency to individuated self-realisation. By examining Jungian archetypes like the Wayfarer and the Buddha, we can better understand the psychological industry and intimacy tasks essential for a healthy adult psyche.
II. The Childhood Psyche and the Power of Dreaming
Dreaming assures a person actively engages his or her future goals. As the bible states, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me (1 Corinthians 13:11)” The childhood psyche gives way to adult existence for individuation to continue.
Normalising the Propensity to Dream
Children dream about the person they will one day become, and this is a normal phenomenon. It is not to be likened to childhood pathological conditions such as ADHD, which oftentimes views a child’s propensity to dream as being pathological, not part of the normal childhood developmental sequence.
III. The Search for Perfection and the Convergence of Idealism
In the story, Siddhartha sought perfection, but had no means to judge what perfection entailed. No one “had attained the heavenly realm completely, none had entirely quenched the eternal thirst” (Hesse, 2002, p. 8). Because no living example amongst the elders achieved the goal Siddhartha sought, he turned his back on all lessons taught by the elders of his community.
The Meeting of Wayfarer and Unmovable Being
However, in turn, a new legend arose about a perfect being, the Buddha, whom achieved the goal Siddhartha sought to emulate. A convergence occurred during this era, and the wayfaring Siddhartha met the unmovable being, the person he emulated, the one who achieved Nirvana.
The Coniunctio and Transcendent Consciousness
After parting ways with the ascetics, Siddhartha and Govinda sought to hear the lessons of the Buddha. While Siddhartha doubted that the lessons taught by the Buddha would have any significance, the protagonist was destined to meet with the antagonist whom achieved perfection. The Buddha had achieved perfection. He was a living example of an individual who achieved the transcendent level of consciousness associated with Jung’s idea of the coniunctio, a level of existence in which all polarities common to consciousness are transcended.
IV. Psychological Evolution: Faith, Hope, and Love
As a child, Siddhartha thought with a child’s mind. He sought perfection, but had no idol to emulate. Siddhartha needed to develop an adult psyche to attain the perfection he sought, but lacked directions. Corinthians tells of the development the psyche undertakes as it seeks perfection through faith, hope, love, and the drive to leave childhood psychology behind.
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me… And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians, 13:8-13)
The Transcendence of Opposites
This passage, although not linked to the tenets of Buddhist philosophy, suggests that all opposites cease with the perfection of consciousness. Prophecies and their antithesis are true. In essence, prophecy helps the psyche to develop hope. The Buddha is said to have transcended normal consciousness. A convergence of the polarized notion of the opposites that govern consciousness took place during his lifetime. This provided hope for those who also sought to exit the drudgery associated with conscious living during his time.
V. The Mirror of the Future: Identifying the Goal
Siddhartha developed faith in his path after he realized its goal was attainable. He hoped to achieve perfection and unite with the divine, but failed to develop love for anyone but himself. Because Siddhartha sought what the Buddha had achieved, he was able to identify him out of hundreds of other monks who wore the same attire.
Venerating the Eternal Essence
Siddhartha was more interested in the Buddha’s eternal essence. It seemed to him that every joint on every finger of this hand was a teaching, that it spoke truth. For Siddhartha, the Buddha’s body breathed truth. Every cell of his body represented something holy. Siddhartha saw his future mirrored by a man who achieved what he wanted to become.
VI. Adolescence and the Role of Idols
Adolescence is a developmental period when a child begins to look up to adults that partake in paths similar to those the child wishes to undertake. Children dream about the person they will one day become. While the Buddha did not directly initiate Siddhartha, his presence provided the protagonist with proof of his goal’s attainability.
The Savior Archetype
The Buddha represented a figure of hope to a culture and era that had yet to see what the attainment of Nirvana entailed. He is a savior archetype, one of a few individuals that transcended the split nature of consciousness associated with samsara. Siddhartha was an individual, who undertook his own hero’s quest trying to attain Nirvana his way or die trying.
VII. The Encounter with the Higher Self
Siddhartha’s meeting with the Buddha represented a meeting with a higher aspect of Self. The protagonist of the story met the antagonist who had achieved the individuated state the protagonist sought. People dream life forward by emulating the actions of others. Siddhartha realized that the Buddha was perfect, but questioned the validity of his teaching. Siddhartha would not seek refuge in the teaching; instead sought the goal he wished to attain on his own terms.
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VIII. Archetypal Possession: The Wayfarer and the Trickster
The wayfarer archetype possessed Siddhartha. His psychological need to be independent from everyone foretold the destiny that awaited him. This represents the power of the trickster archetype as it unfolds during the life sequence of the hero’s quest. The environment allows the psyche to grow into that which it will eventually become. Siddhartha chose the life of a wayfarer, thus abandoning traditional adult undertakings.
IX. Developmental Tasks: Indecisiveness and Shadow Work
Indecisiveness is a common occurrence during adolescence. Indecisiveness about one’s path represents a key factor for engaging the environment to formulate further self-knowledge (Germeijs, Verschueren, & Soenens, 2006). Siddhartha knew the lessons associated with self-absorption, meditative contemplation, and ritual practices. However, he also needed to learn how to relate to other individuals. Relating to others represented one component of the shadow work Siddhartha needed to undertake to individuate.
Dissolving the Ego for the Emergent Self
In order for Self to emerge, the ego must dissolve as a means to allow new identity formations to take place. Experimentation in one’s cultural industry, education, and love occurs during adolescence and young adult development. While Siddhartha showed that he was ready to leave his childhood lessons behind, he had yet to consummate his adult psyche through the development of an intimate relationship with another individual.
X. The Realization of Solitude and Potency
Siddhartha realized how alone he was. For years he had been homeless and not felt it. Now he felt it. This passage gives many references to potency, the emergent possibility of sexuality, and rebirth. In the pagan religions, the rabbit was associated with fertility. The rabbit was a pagan symbol of fertility that gave eggs, another symbol of fertility.
Transition to Early Adulthood
Siddhartha’s heart went cold, like a small animal, because he sought to satiate the loneliness he felt after he had realized he had no human connection. While Siddhartha transcended his boyhood psychology and saw the world as an adult, he had yet to experience the beauty of an intimate relationship with another person. Early adult development hinges upon the development of intimate relationships.
XI. References
Hesse, H. (2002). Siddhartha: A new translation with an introduction by Paul W. Morris. (C. S. Kohn, Trans.) Boston, MA: Shambhala. (Original work published 1922)
Germeijs, V., Verschueren, K., & Soenens, B. (2006). Indecisiveness and high school students’ career decision making process: Longitudinal associations and the mediational role of anxiety. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(4), 397-410.
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