Abstract
Man’s life has always been looked upon as a journey. Like any other journey, life has its own destination too. The destination is contingent on the direction the voyage is made. In case of the majority, the direction is outward – from the ‘self.’ That is why the common lot never become individuals. Rather they are reduced with time to a part of the system which is euphemistically called ‘human society.’ A few, however, make the movement in the opposite direction – to the ‘self.’ The journey of such a person is never easy. He needs to pass through various phases of life. Having done that, he gains ‘wholeness’ of existence, that is, his ‘self.’ In that self coexists the contrary inclinations – good and evil, moral and immoral, conscious and unconscious. Hermann Hesse’s timeless classic ‘Demian’ bears the same motif. The protagonist, Sinclair, is able to explore his self only when he has experienced the opposite forces of life. Sinclair’s friend Demian who throughout the journey remains his guide, becomes a part of his consciousness like God in the end.
Highlights
Since time immemorial man has cherished the practice of drawing a line between ‘good’ and ‘evil.’ Though both words are relative in significance, and though the concept of goodness changes with place and time, qualities like charity, pity, love, meekness, faith in God, obeying social norms, and so on, have always been deemed ‘good.’ The common people believe that learning good qualities and nourishing those in the heart, and staying as much away from ‘evil’ as possible are essential to the construction of an ideal human nature
As the span of twenty four hours consists both of day and night, and as a year is comprised both of summer and winter, there can be no ‘good’ without the concurrent presence of ‘evil.’ Though everyone expresses disapproval of the ‘bad,’ at least publicly, deep inside a person always remains a tremendous temptation for it, whether he is conscious of the fact or not matters very little
Siddhartha obtains procures salvation only when he realizes the co-existence and the reciprocal relationship of the opposites. He lives a religious and austere life with utmost dedication; he participates in the mundane enterprise with equal enthusiasm. After that he becomes ready to attain ‘moksha.’ Similar is the experience of Emil Sinclair in ‘Demian.’ His very name signifies the interdependence of opposing forces – ‘the forces of evil (Sin) and the power of light’ (‘Demian Reader’s Guide’)
Summary
Since time immemorial man has cherished the practice of drawing a line between ‘good’ and ‘evil.’ Though both words are relative in significance, and though the concept of goodness changes with place and time, qualities like charity, pity, love, meekness, faith in God, obeying social norms, and so on, have always been deemed ‘good.’ The common people believe that learning good qualities and nourishing those in the heart, and staying as much away from ‘evil’ as possible are essential to the construction of an ideal human nature. A child who is brought up under the sheltering roof of parents is with the greatest possibility of learning the ‘good’ values of the world. He has the greatest likelihood to be a model citizen in his later life. A person, as long as he is under the spell of morality and religion, remains unaware of the ‘individual self’ that demands the knowledge of the dark side larking in him . Because of his unawareness or his constant
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