Archetypes

The main character Emil Sinclair begins as an innocent embarking on a journey. He is helped along by a friend/sage, Max Demian. Sinclair could also sort of be an orphan, at a young age he is sent to a boarding school and from then on fends and learns for himself with out a parental guidance. He ends up meeting a couple other friend/sages who also show him the way on his journey (Pistorious, and Knauer). Towards the end Frau Eva (Demian's mom) becomes sort of a caregiver/sage/lover. Sinclair could also be seen as a seeker, cause he leaves on purpose in order to find himself. The archetypal setting is at first the contrast of the light world and dark world, the bad and good. Once these worlds start clashing and he moves on into boarding school for a while the setting is him sort of wandering from bar to bar. After that he becomes a bit of a hermit, and still after that he travels. Towards the end he comes to Demians house and here is sort of like a safe place. Here he feels safe, happy, and untouchable. Then in the end he goes to war, which is almost complete contrast of Demians house.

Conflict and Resolution

This book is about a boy named Sinclair. The conflict arises early when he starts to lose the reality he knew as a child, and could so easily define as good and bad. This comes about with the help of a boy named Demian. Sinclair starts to realize that there is not just good and evil, light and dark. Also if that's all there was he doesn't know which he belongs to. This shatters his world and he is left struggling to find his personal reality and self. In resolution he eventually, after years of turmoil, begins to find himself and how he feels about the world. With the help of Demian and his mother he eventually realizes and comes to peace with himself and the world around him.

Recomendation

I would recommend this book to anyone willing to put a lot of thought into it. It isn't a light book you can just skim through to get its meaning. I reread about every other paragraph so that I could take from it at least a bit of the meaning. It shows different views that very religious people might find offending. It is a good read and you can take a lot from it. I wouldn't recommend it to very young kids. I think if I read it a couple years ago I would have been quite lost, and I bet if I read it again when I am older I will have a different perspective. It is sort of about growing up though and going through the "crisis" of being a teenager. So I think if you are willing to really get into it its a good book for people my age.

Favorite and Least Favorite Parts

Favorite:
My favorite part would have to be the ending after all his struggling and suffering he discovers himself. I also like that the ending reveals the things he loved most (Demian and his mother) actually turned out to be a part of himself. It gives you a good feeling that maybe the most inspiring people in your life may actually be reflections of yourself.

Least Favorite:
My least favorite would have to be around the middle. Though all the characters ultimately lead to Sinclairs self, I feel like there were almost too many times he came to some profound realization. Coming to so many made each one seem less special. It also seems like some of the ideas were contradictory to themselves, and though very enlightening to me sometimes it seemed to be stretching ideas a bit far. It also made a lot of references to the bible, which isnt necessarily a bad thing, but for me it makes it harder to understand. I realy dont know any of the bible stories so this made it a little confusing for me to always get the point.

Character Development and end thought

Sinclair starts as a small child sheltered by his parents. He realizes within himself that there are two world, Dark and Light. Light belonging to his parents, law, and good. The Dark being things "sinful" and bad. He becomes involved in the dark world briefly at a young age. From then he begins a journey to find himself. He has various teachers and masters that help him along the way, but none so prominent and Demian and eventually Demians mother. Through this journey Sinclair goes through harsh realizations that bring him closer and closer to finding self. One including the uniting of the Dark and Light world. At first he feels one should live in one or the other, but he realizes later it is quite opposite and one cant live without the other. You need each in order to fully know yourself and know the earth and mankind. In the end he becomes independent of the teachers and what not and finds himself.

I feel that the ending could be interpreted different ways. The way I like to see it is that all his teachers and masters where really just perspectives of himself. Demian helped him so greatly understand himself because in reality he was Demian. The same with Frau Eva. Frau Eva knew him so well, and he was so knowledgeable about her before their meeting because she had actually been there all along just waiting for her time to come forth and teach. Ultimately he is left alone, but you do not feel he is alone because all these people and teachers are still there within him. He is just now aware that they are his true self.

Last Summary

Sinclair and Pistorius become friends. Pistorius is sort of a teacher/master to Sinclair and he learns a lot from him and comes to many new realizations. They study mostly Abraxas as "god" but also sort of meditate and become more one with nature. Sinclair feels that he is coming even more in tuned to his true inner self. He then develops a new relationship with a boy named Knauer. At first Sinclair feels that he has no advice for Knauer, who is asking him bizarre questions about things like white magic and spirits. Knauer also asks him how he can become abstinent even in dreams and subconsciously. Knauer is sort of put of by Sinclairs lack of helpfulness and leaves. Later Sinclair finds himself being inexplicably drawn to a church, inside he finds Knauer and immediately realizes that he was about to commit suicide. After that Knauer sort of follows Sinclair everywhere, asking him all sorts of questions and seeing him as a sort of master. Then eventually Knauer slips out of Sinclairs life more or less unnoticed, though later he does realize knauer was a teacher to him as well. The ties between Sinclair and Pistorius are also severed around this time, but in a different way. Sinclair starts to feel as though he has grown more into himself than Pistorius could further teach him. He does not really like this feeling but does feel like he no longer needs Pistorius, he is even beginning to resist him. At one point he blows up and sort of implies that Pistorius is a bit of a fake. This wounds him very deeply, but he accepts it saying that Sinclair is right. Though they remain friends of sorts, it isn't the same teacher student bond that they had previously. Though him and Pistorius have one more enlightening talk. After this talk Sinclair comes to a realization that life is not finding what you are supposed to do or be, like a poet artist writer etc. Life is just a journey to find yourself. After this he once again spirals downward until he hits another low. At this point he writes a message to Demian saying, A leader has left me. I am enveloped in darkness. I cannot take another step alone. Help me. He does not however send it. At this point he leaves school and his father suggests that he travel for a while then go to university. During his vacation he goes to Demians old house. The present owner doesn't know Demians whereabouts but she shows Sinclair pictures of Demian and his mother. When Sinclair sees the pictures he recognizes the godlike masculine women in all his haunting dreams and paintings. His Daemon, and she is Demians mother.
On this trip before university Sinclair sort of wanders blindly searching for this woman. He sometimes feels like he glimpses her, but never actually meets her. Then he goes to the University. After a while there he one night recognizes Demians voice. They talk and are immediately bonded once again and talk with each other about everything and all the new realizations towards finding themselves. Sinclair walks Demian home. When Demian leaves he says that Sinclair will have to come visit him and his mother sometime as they have been waiting for him for so long. Sinclair gets a giddy anxious but childish feeling when he hears he will soon see the woman. The day he goes everything is brighter and the world for the first time in a long time seems happy and not some rotten outside. When he goes into the house one of the first things he realizes is his painting of the bird hanging in the house. He then meets Frau Eva (Demian's mother). She seems to know him exactly and all his feelings. He can see the mark of Cain on her, as it is on Demian, and on himself. He begins to visit the house more and more. They become a sort of group. Sinclair, Frau Eva, Demian, and many others who are journeying to find themselves. They share and all seems to understand each other well. Sinclair falls more and more deeply in love with Frau Eva. Some days he isn't sure whether he loves her for what she represents in himself, then other days he loves solely her passionately. He feels somehow still restrained by his love, held back like it is not really right. He explains this and everything to Frau Eva and she seems to understand, but tells him that until he can fully love her with no regret or doubt it will not be so. So Sinclair enters a melancholy beautiful time in his life, but both he and Demian sense there is a time coming where their kind will be called on. The feeling worsens and worsens and one day they get the news that war will start. Demian is a lieutenant and Sinclair is drafted. After being at war for a while Sinclair gets injured. I think it is a bomb, but when it goes off he describes it more in the shape of the tall Strong figure of Frau Eva. He pulls through and on the night when he finally becomes fully conscious again he finds Demian sitting over him. Demian tells him that though Sinclair may need him again he will no longer be able to come by him in crude form. He says that Sinclair must find Demian inside himself. Then he says that Frau Eva asked Demian should anything go wrong to kiss him, so he does. Sinclair goes back to sleep and in the morning Demian is no longer there.

Link: Quotes

I chose this link because it tells about Hermann Hesse and also shows quotes from some of his books. Demian has a lot of quotes I like and most of them are included on this page. It also shows some from his other books; Siddartha, Steppenwolf, Narcissa and Golmund, and The Glass Bead Game.