Awakening
Vocabulary
ascertained — learned with certainty
contemptible ~ despicable
despondency - hopelessness
diffuse ~ widely spread
forlorn — hopeless; wretched
multiplicity ~a great number oF variety
obtuse ~ unintelligent
reside ~live
sundered ~ severed
throe ~ spasm or attack
NOTE: Read this chapter with the Fourth Noble Truth in mind: The way to end desire is to
follow the Eight-Fold Path.
1. What epithet does Hesse use for Siddhartha in this chapter? What part of himself does
Siddhartha leave behind with his youth?
2. After awakening, Siddhartha thinks he is like a newborn child and should return to his
father. Why does he not go home?
3. What does Sieldhartha realize gives him a “profound feeling of awakening from
long dreams...” (Pg, 38) What epithet does Hesse use for Siddhartha after this
understanding?
4. Why does Siddhartha abandon the Brahman precept that the beauty of nature is an
iMlusion?
5. How does the last line in this
is to follow the Hight-Fold Path?
hapter support the last Noble Truth: The way to end desire