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.
Monday, February 2, 2009
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So this one plus Lord of the Flies might drive a person to harmful acts. The dark & light thing though, is also the question in LoF, with the conclusion that left to their own devices, mankind is dark, and darkness is stronger than light-- internally at the level of individuals, and externally, when in group conflict with the light. Some days I think that is true, particularly if I watch the news.
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