Siddartha's Journey: By the River

Quote: " He yearned to know nothing more about himself, to find peace, to be dead"(77). In this part of Siddhartha's journey, he is deeply depressed about the life he lead for the past couple years. Sadly, He believes that he can't go home and return to his previous life styles either. At this point, he believes life would be much better if he no longer existed.

Physically: Siddhartha has gained weight and is healthy looking once again. He's traveling through the woods and finds himself by the river. He then attempts to commit suicide by immersing himself into the water. Then the words of the "Om" re-awakened his spirit. He gets out of the water and falls asleep by the river. When Siddhartha wakes up he realizes that Govinda is sitting across from him meditating, but Govinda did not recognize him. After they speak, Siddhartha decides to stay by the river.

Mentally: Siddhartha was in a bad place mentally when he decided to commit suicide. After he realized that he was making a bad choice, he thought it was best to stay alive. Siddhartha then realizes that his whole path to enlightenment was the wrong way of approaching it. He thinks that by joining the Samanas or  Buddha will not bring him close to his enlightenment. He basically realizes that he has been looking in all the wrong places for enlightenment.

Spiritually: Siddhartha's spirituality is reawakened in this chapter. He finally gets back onto the path he needed to be on since he left Govinda. When he attempted to commit suicide, the word of the "Om" had brought him back and  had re-incarnated him spiritually. He felt that after he spoke with Govinda and after he was given a second chance at life, that a new Siddhartha was born. He also felt that he had to experience everything he went through in Samsara. With out being there a new Siddhartha would not have been born.

Socially: Socially, in this chapter Siddhartha is very much alone until he speaks with Govinda again. He's happy to speak with his old friend, but he has not interacted with anyone else. After Govinda leaves, Siddhartha is on his own again.