1. Siddhartha is a Brahmin youth who finds his life unsatisfactory.

Though he is blessed with material

possessions, he feels as if there is a void in his life which he must fill. He pushes himself to do so
by leaving home to join the aesthetic Samsana group. His friend Govinda accompanies him on
this journey after Siddhartha convinces him to search for fullfillment in life. At first, Govinda is
portrayed as hampering to Siddhartha in his journey by trying to keep him on board with
Samsana ethic. Though this causes Siddhartha essentially to spend a great deal of time on the
wrong path, Govinda soon joins the Enlightened teacher Gotama. This is essential to the story
since to find Enlightenment, Govinda must leave Siddhartha so he can follow his own path.
“Siddhartha had started to nurse discontent in himself, he had started to feel that the love of his father
and the love of his mother, and also the love of his friend, Govinda, would not bring him joy for ever
and ever, would not nurse him, feed him, satisfy him.”
2. Gotama preaches his message of Enlightenment to his followers. While Siddhartha respects
Gotama for his great achievement, he is confused by his ministry: if one must find their own
path to Enlightenment, then how can one give instruction or guidance to another for finding it?
Though Siddhartha doesn't become a follower of Gotama like his friend Govinda, he does learn
a vital piece of information, which is that he must follow his own path to Enlightenement. No
longer is he convinced that religious instruction is necessary for him to find the meaning of life.
He has a great desire to learn more about himself, and suddenly he finds himself “awoken”.
“And—thus is my thought, oh exalted one,—nobody will obtain salvation by means of
teachings! You will not be able to convey and say to anybody, oh venerable one, in words and
through teachings what has happened to you in the hour of enlightenment! “
3. Kamata is the first person who takes Siddhartha off his path from contentness he found in life.
She shows him the sensual pleasures of life and brings back greed into Siddhartha's life. She
teaches him much about materialism that comes along with city life, and introduces him to a
man named Kamaswami who teaches him gambling and monetary obsession. Though appearing
as an antagonist, Kamata actually does benefit Siddhartha by giving him great insight to the
importance of self-respect and patience. Though they are good lovers to each other, little love
truly exists between them, and Siddhartha's realizes this.
“"It might very well be so," Siddhartha said tiredly. "I am like you. You also do not love—how
else could you practise love as a craft? Perhaps, people of our kind can't love. The childlike
people can; that's their secret."”
4. Kamaswami is a businessman who invites Govinda into his home upon the request of Kamata.
He introduces capitalist business to Siddhartha. At first, he is confused by this and finds little
value in monetary gain after the years he spent with the Samanas, but he soon loses this view
and becomes very greedy. He takes up malpractices such as gambling and gluttony, leaving his
old life behind. One night he wakes up and feels death in himself, and realizes the life
Kamaswami introduced him to brought him into Samsara where he falls into sin and his life
becomes cyclic, ending in sin and death. This realization causes him to leave the city and take
refuge in the wilderness to return to his path to Enlightenment.
“The name of this game was Sansara, a game for children, a game which was perhaps enjoyable
to play once, twice, ten times—but for ever and ever over again?
Then, Siddhartha knew that the game was over, that he could not play it any more. Shivers ran
over his body, inside of him, so he felt, something had died.”
5. Vasuveda is a simple man who works as a ferryman. This type of simplicity attracts Siddhartha,
as he sees this man's satisfaction with life. An enlightened man, Vasuveda encourages
Siddhartha to learn the secrets of the river, which he ties great symbolic importance to. Through
Vasuveda's encouragement, Siddhartha learns that time is an illusion which humanity will
eventually overcome. He also discovers the secret that the river contains multitudes of voices,
united by the resounding “Om.” Having discovered these secrets, Siddhartha has made great
progress along his path to Enlightenment.
“Vasudeva rose. "It is late," he said, "let's go to sleep. I can't tell you that other thing, oh friend.
You'll learn it, or perhaps you know it already.””

6. Siddhartha's son is cynical and spoiled, and this being the case it is extremely difficult to instill
any values of patience or self-fulfillment in the boy. Siddhartha is deeply troubled by this,
wanting his son to find satisfaction in life, but struggling to balance this between the boy's want
for his old city life back. Eventually the boy leaves him and Siddhartha follows, but upon
arrival at the city finds that he cannot make the boy who he wants him to be. He realizes, as
Vasuveda told him, the boy must take his own path to discover the meaning of life.
“That young bird is accustomed to a different life, to a different nest. He has not, like you, ran
away from riches and the city, being disgusted and fed up with it; against his will, he had to
leave all this behind. I asked the river, oh friend, many times I have asked it. But the river
laughs, it laughs at me, it laughs at you and me, and is shaking with laughter at out foolishness.
Water wants to join water, youth wants to join youth, your son is not in the place where he can
prosper. You too should ask the river; you too should listen to it! “
7. When Govinda comes back to find Siddhartha, now Enlightened, he finds himself still
unsatisfied with life. He has followed Gotama many years now, but can't find the meaning of
life. He receives advice from Siddhartha, who tells him many things, such as the illusion of time
and that life is always complete on its journey to completeness. But to actually know
Enlightenment, Govinda kisses Siddhartha on the forehead. With this and the subsequent
experience Siddhartha had earlier in life, Govinda achieves Enlightenment. The journey upon
which Siddhartha began with his old friend is now completed.
“But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal. You, oh venerable one, are perhaps
indeed a searcher, because, striving for your goal, there are many things you don't see, which
are directly in front of your eyes.”
8. As Siddhartha meditates more and more by the river, he really begins to grasp much more about
the world around him. He is able to accept the fact that suffering consumes the world, and that
the misfortunes of life are passed along through family and generations until each individual
can find satisfaction with life. He listens more to the river and realizes that he is part of the
world and union, part of the “Om”. His acceptance of this fact allows him to see the true
knowledge that life has to offer, and he has found his Enlightenment.
“And everything together, all voices, all goals, all yearning, all suffering, all pleasure, all that
was good and evil, all of this together was the world. All of it together was the flow of events,
was the music of life. And when Siddhartha was listening attentively to this river, this song of a
thousand voices, when he neither listened to the suffering nor the laughter, when he did not tie
his soul to any particular voice and submerged his self into it, but when he heard them all,
perceived the whole, the oneness, then the great song of the thousand voices consisted of a
single word, which was Om: the perfection.”