Curren Vs Siddhartha

The Tale of Two Tragic Lives When examining the level of tragedy a character has within a novel, readers often overlook the idea of individuality and its effects on tragedy itself. The amount of control a character has over their life plays an enormously important role in how tragic they are within the work of literature. Both Age of Iron, and Siddhartha, are novels that possess tragic characters due to the level of control they have over their lives, however the books’ respective authors each develop this tragedy in different creative manners.
In Age of Iron it seems as though every character other than Mrs. Curren possesses a great deal of control over their actions. The fact that Mrs. Curren is terminally ill exaggerates this notion to
readers very strongly, and this is why Author J.M. Coetzee constantly reminds readers of her illness. However, Coetzee juxtaposes this idea by making it seem as though each of the other characters surrounding Mrs. Curren have some large obligation to continue to stay by her side and live with her. In reality, each one of the supporting characters in the novel freely chooses to stay on Mrs. Curren’s land with her. This choice is made out of selfish desires reguarding taking over the estate once Mrs. Curren passes away. It is painfully obvious that the character in Age of Iron that has the least amount of control over their actions is Mrs. Curren herself. The major factor that limits Mrs. Curren’s actions within the novel is her terminal illness. Mrs. Curren’s illness seems to constantly loom over her like a dark cloud throughout the entire novel. It seems as though in the moments where Mrs. Curren is beginning to act somewhat independently, readers are immediately reminded of her illness. This is depicted most clearly when she goes with Florence, Bheki, and Vercueil to go look for Bheki’s friend at the hospital. They all search together for a while, however in the middle of the search, Mrs. Curren is in too much pain to continue searching and her and Vercueil sit in the car while Florence and Bheki continue looking. Coetzee allows readers to forget about Mrs. Curren’s illness, as she is running around seemingly fine with the other supporting characters. However, as he does throughout the entire novel, Coetzee reminds his readers of her illness at this exact moment. Interstingly enough, though Mrs. Curren has the least amount of control over her actions in the novel, she does have one choice that she can make: whether or not to take her own life. Coetzee uses this choice as a way to put her illness into perspective for his readers, however she never does go through with taking her own life. In the Novel, Siddhartha, author Hermann Heese offers readers multiple elements of both independence, and entrapment to digest. Though it may be easy to say that the protagonist, Siddhartha, has the most control over his actions, this is not necessarily true. In the Indian society around him, others who are his age are beginning to join the working classes within the castes that they were born into. Both Siddhartha and his best friend Govinda are born into the highest caste in India, the Brahman, however weirdly enough, both decide that the life of a Brahman is not for them. Govinda joins a group of Gotama monks three years after they make the decision to leave the Brahman, and yet Siddhartha is still not impressed with any caste. During this portion of the book, readers cannot help but realize that Siddhartha acts much like a college student who is undecided on their major. Siddhartha continues to try out what it would be like to live in other caste’s however he never seems completely satisfied. This in fact is what makes Govinda have more control over his actions than Siddhartha. Though it may seem as though Siddhartha has freedom in that he gets to wonder around and try out different castes, Govinda is actually the one who is in control of his actions in that he finally has reached peace with himself. It is obvious to readers that Siddhartha seems rather frantic throughout the novel, and never seems completely happy. Govinda on the other hand, already knows where he belongs in the world, and can therefore move on and live his life. Siddhartha however, is trapped in this endless cycle of wondering around until he finds where he belongs. This way of life becomes extremely frustrating to Siddhartha, and even drives him to thoughts of suicide towards the end of the novel. At the end of the novel, it seems as though Siddhartha may have found his fit in life in being a ferryman, as he finally reaches enlightenment. When thinking about the level of tragedy a character possesses within a novel, readers have multiple items to consider.
Trying to decide whether or not Mrs. Curren, is a more tragic character than Siddhartha, or vies versa, puts readers in a difficult spot. Siddhartha evokes emotions within his readers in that even though he has not figured out his life at all whatsoever, he still is constantly trying to help those that are close to him. Even when he finally does reach enlightenment, he helps his best friend Govinda reach enlightenment. Most readers would feel that Siddhartha should act in a bitter manner towards Govinda due to the fact that Govinda abandoned him to become a monk. However, Siddhartha shows his true character, and in a graceful manner helps Govinda. Through his enlightenment, Siddhartha finally gains freedom and peace, items in which Mrs. Curren never
will. The aspect of Mrs.
Curren’s character that allows author J.M Coetzee to develop her into a tragic character is her terminal illness. This illness is never named, nor given any symptoms other than pain, and Coetzee does not do this by accident. By limiting the amount of characteristics of the illness, Coetzee develops it into this mysterious, cloud like being that constantly hangs of Mrs. Curren’s head. Coetzee develops separate story lines in the novel, such as Bheki’s death, and in doing so, causes readers to forget about Mrs. Curren’s illness. However, by bringing the illness back into the story, he reminds readers that Mrs. Curren’s time on earth is extremely limited. It is in this way that Coetzee notifies readers that Mrs. Curren is completely powerless in life. The illness makes all of Mrs. Curren’s actions completely irrelevant and helpless, and a great deal of the tragedy surrounding her is within the fact that the few friends she does have are only spending time with her to acquire her estate after she inevitably passes away. It is in this way that Mrs. Curren’s character is much more tragic than Siddhartha. Siddhartha has the rest of his life to continue to grow wiser, and live in an enlightened state. Mrs. Curren on the other hand, did not have that luxury, and eventually ran out of time and passed
away. Both J.M. Coetzee, and Hermann Hesse masterfully create tragic characters within their respective novels. However, it is through the addition of an illness that limits the amount of control Mrs. Curren has on her life, that Coetzee crafts the perfect tragic character.