Ismeray Gonzalez

10/12/09 Mr. Wood

AP Eng. Lit. P. 4
Revised Essay

Practically physically perfect and born to a wealthy and

illustrious Brahmin( an Indian of high status), Siddhartha is by all
means discontent and unsatisfied with his life; because, for all the joy
he unleashes upon everyone he knows, he cannot give himself a drop
of that joy. Traditionally bound by his customs, he feels trapped and
unable to hide his repressed feelings anymore. The strength of his
desire to seek enlightenment consumes him for the rest of his life,
inspiring him to leave all he knew, all he had, and all he was.
Siddhartha’s careful structure parallels the spiritual journey of its
protagonist. Formally, it is divided into two parts, but indeed it has a
three-part structure that corresponds to three phases Siddhartha
passes through his path to enlightenment: the stage of the mind,
which corresponds to walking with the ascetics and listening to the
Buddha; the stage of the flesh, which corresponds to the teaching in
the arts of love with Kamala and the arts of commerce with
Kamaswami; and the stage of transcendence, which corresponds to the
epiphany by the river and a father’s lesson in love.
In the beginning, Siddhartha thinks that taking intense, extreme
measures is the only way he will be able to answer his questions. He
renounces the extreme wealth of his family in favor of extreme
poverty, and then returns to extreme wealth. Siddhartha leaves his
family village in India to search for meaning in his life. He joins the
Samanas who believe in asceticism, the deprivation of the body of all
physical desires. In the course of his spiritual experiments, he fasts for
days and meditates for hours. Siddhartha goes through this stage but
still he can not find enlightenment. He then visits Gotama, the Buddha.
Siddhartha’s skeptical that Gotama’s teachings are the true path to
enlightenment and continues seeking spiritual fulfillment.
Occasionally, Siddhartha loses sight of his goal, as when he
abandons bodily pain and pursues bodily pleasure to the exclusion of
all else. His time spent with Kamala and Kamaswami introduced him to
the worldly pleasures in life. He matures and has a long relationship
with Kamala, a beautiful courtesan; they bear a son whose name is
also Siddhartha. He becomes rich through his employment in the
business of the merchant, Kamaswami. Much later, he derides himself
for wasting his time this way. The parts of Siddhartha that demand
self-realization are distinct Buddhist philosophies.
Although Siddhartha probably does not know it, the Buddha he
encounters once embraced extremes as Siddhartha does. Eventually,
the Buddha decided to neither starve nor overeat, neither deprive
himself of comfort nor lounge in the lap of luxury; he decided on a
“middle path.” By the end of his life, Siddhartha picks the same path,
lives on the river with Vasudeva and listens to the water. He sleeps,
but not excessively. He eats, but not gluttonously. This outer balance
parallels the inner balance that Siddhartha has found in his mind. He
has no need to search for peace anymore, because he has found it. He
has learned to unite the life of the mind with the life of the body.