Today, mankind has integrated symbols into their culture with each one meaning something different, authors use symbols in their novels, sometimes using them to give a more spiritual tone. The German novel Siddhartha is written by Hermann Hesse uses many symbols, one of which is the river. Siddhartha is a novel about a boy and his friend trying to reach total enlightenment. The river represents the cleansing of one’s spirit, reveals the message that time has no meaning, and Siddhartha effects the novel by revealing the theme of love.
The river in Siddhartha represents the cleansing of one’s spirit. When Siddhartha finds the river for the second time, he lies down and falls into a deep