Comparison Of Self-Reliance And In Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

The Highest Merit: Knowledge from Within

Influence from other sources such as people or tradition is a common way to learn and acquire knowledge. However, the highest merit is in relying on one’s own thoughts and ideas as discussed in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance”, and in Herman Hesse’s novel, “Siddhartha”. Emerson emphasizes that it is more valuable to acknowledge one’s own beliefs than acquiring knowledge from others. He also explains that once someone accepts his or her own opinions as the truth, these ideas become the universal understanding for that individual. This idea that “self-reliance” is more essential than relying on others for knowledge is evident in Hesse’s Siddhartha as well. Despite his reverent position
Emerson connects to this in his statement: “A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages.” Emerson highlights the importance of focusing on one’s own thoughts rather than the ideas of others. This is an essential theme in the Siddhartha because Siddhartha would never have understood true enlightenment if he had not relied on his own insight for knowledge. Otherwise, his claim to enlightenment would only be “surface-level”. When Siddhartha met Gotama, Siddhartha said, “...You have reached the highest goal which so many thousands of Brahmins and Brahmins’ sons are striving to reach. You have done so by your own seeking…You have learned nothing through teachings” (33-34). Siddhartha learns that similarly to Gotama, Siddhartha must also acquire knowledge through his own individual experience and feel for himself what Gotama had achieved. Throughout his journey, Siddhartha becomes characterized as more independent and self –reliant. He learns the basis of Emerson’s statement: that one should learn to focus on ideas of the mind from within in order to gain
This is tied in with Emerson’s quote: “Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for always the inmost becomes the outmost—and our first thought is rendered back to us by the trumpets of the Last Judgment”. This means that when one’s own beliefs are accepted as true, they become the individual’s universal understanding. Early in the novel, it says it is written in holy books: “Your soul is the whole world” (7). This is similar to Emerson’s quote in that the inner beliefs are the individual’s interpretation of the universe. Siddhartha begins to understand the way of the universe by meditating by a river, which symbolizes perpetual and cyclic time. He was able to realize that instead of looking down on his past mistakes, he should embrace it in order to find internal peace because everything is already in a state of enlightenment. This came to be Siddhartha’s new understanding of the universe. He would not have reached enlightenment if not for his past experiences with the world and reflecting on his inner