Siddhartha blog

In the book Siddhartha, the topic of following you own path reoccurs many times in different ways. When Siddhartha's best friend Govinda tells him that he wants to stay with the Buddha, Siddhartha replies: "Often i have thought: will Govinda ever take a step without me, from his own conviction? Now, you are a man and have chosen your own path." (pg. 30) This shows that the ability of knowing what is right for you is a mature and useful skill. As adult as choosing your own path is, it is still a bitter-sweet concept. When Siddhartha's own son abandons him, he reflects upon his actions with this quote: "He remembered how once, as a youth, he had compelled his father to let him go and join the ascetics... Has his father not suffered the same pain that he was now suffering for his son?" this tells us that when someone says good-bye to you for the last time, it may seem bad at first, but that person is making a decision for the better. I know how this feels because i had to say good-bye to my brother when he went to college, i felt sad at first, but i realized that he was a grown up, and he could handle his own decisions the right way.