Herman Hesse's Siddhartha describes the journey and maturation of Siddhartha. Siddhartha is a young Indian man, whose journey to find inner peace takes him to many different places. One of these is the city, where he soon amasses a large fortune. Wealth and material possessions haunt Siddhartha and prevent him from achieving inner peace. This is also demonstrated in the Brahmin village where he is dissatisfied with the rituals and sees wealth and material possessions destroying him. Herman Hesse uses Siddhartha to demonstrate that success does not come from material wealth, but from personal successes that may have nothing to do with wealth. Siddhartha, a member of the wealthy Brahmin caste, is unhappy due to his inability to reach nirvana. Siddhartha appears to be perfect, possessing good luck, charm and intelligence. This is what all Brahmins desire to possess. The young Brahmin can no longer be taught by Brahmin teachings and rituals, and this makes him discontented. Siddhartha believes that knowledge is necessary to reach Nirvana and feels held back by his material possessions. One ritual he becomes disillusioned with is the ritual of ablution because "...they did not wash away the sin, they did not heal the thirst of the spirit, they did not ease the fear in his heart." (5-6). His goal is to achieve enlightenment and he knows it will be difficult with the limited knowledge he has learned from the Brahmins. Siddhartha knows that achieving inner peace will be very difficult and as Siddhartha meditates near the river, he realizes that there must be an effective method to achieve enlightenment. Siddhartha, after realizing that the Brahmins will not help him achieve his ultimate goal, joins the Samana group. This brief stay with...... middle of paper ...... chased his son. The river soon reminds Siddhartha of how he left his father. He continues to listen to the river and can see people from different walks of life. These images soon flow together and begin to produce a single sound, Om. Siddhartha realizes that the earth is intertwined and is now spiritually complete. In Siddhartha the main character, Siddhartha, is at peace with himself only when he is the poorest. Siddhartha's namesake means one who has achieved one's goal. This is part of the plot of symbolism left by the author to demonstrate that wealth does not necessarily bring joy and can even destroy oneself. Contributing to this are Siddhartha's numerous self-destructive behaviors in the city that occur after the acquisition of his fortune. It is only after Siddhartha becomes a humble ferryman that he shows a smile.