Atheist Book Club

Siddhartha Part 3

In the last section, Siddhartha had just left his lover Kamala. He returns to the ferryboat captain who he had befriended years ago. The captain allows Siddhartha to stay with him and help raise crops and drive the ferry. Siddhartha learns that there is much to learn from the river, a fact which the ferryman confirms. Word has spread through the area that Gotoma (The Buddha) is dying. This creates business for the ferrymen as people from all over wish to see The Buddha before he dies. One passenger he sees is Kamala, who is with the son she had with Siddhartha. While there, she becomes ill and dies, leaving the son with Siddhartha.

Siddhartha takes care of his new son, though he finds it difficult. The son is used to his old life, and doesn't listen to his father. The wise old ferryman convinces Siddhartha that he must let his son find his own way, similar to the way that Siddhartha did. At one point the son disappears. Siddhartha attempts to track him down, but eventually relents, and allows his son to find his own way. Thus the circle of life is completed.

Conclusions
Okay, I'm done with this book now. Its quick reading, and engaging. Its so short, though, that it amounts more to a short story than a novel. I found it interesting that when Siddhartha was an uppity young man, rebelling against his father, as a reader I saw his point of view. But when he was the father, with a son who was similarly rebellious, I still sided with him. This is no doubt the intended reaction, but it seems somewhat forced. The portrayals of Siddhartha's father and son seem so one-sided that there really is no room for ambiguous feelings. Meanwhile, Siddhartha is shown having conflicted feelings, which is a much easier situation to understand. Posted by mill1991 at July 6, 2004 11:10 AM