Essay on Steppenwolfs Decision to Live - 1250 Words

Steppenwolfs Decision to Live In the novel, Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse, the main character, the Steppenwolf, considers committing suicide. He tries to justify taking his life with religious and philosophical rationales, but in the argument he finds that his life is worth living and suicide not a logical option. Sadly though, the novel provides little evidence beyond the Steppenwolfs own feelings as to why he cannot commit suicide. It is the intent of this paper, with some religious and philosophical references, to shed light on the reasoning behind the Steppenwolfs decision to live. The issue of suicide has been addressed throughout history by many critics. Many try to justify taking ones own life, but for different†¦show more content†¦The ultimate goal of the Steppenwolf is pure individuality. Solitude is independence. It has been my wish and with the years I had attained it. It was cold. . . . wonderfully still and vast like the cold stillness of space in which the stars revolve (The Steppenwolf. 37 ). The Steppenwolf yearns for the total solitude provided by suicide but, the Steppenwolf has found it without physically killing himself. By doing this mentally, he has committed a psychological suicide. The treatise addresses this as a suicide as well, but the psychological suicide cannot exist on the same level as a physical suicide. The Steppenwolf admits that even while pursuing his suicide he had contacts with others. He received invitations, presents, pleasant letters; but no more. No one came near to him (Steppenwolf. 46-47). He had not committed a full suicide and removed himself totally from the world. With the option for a suicide at hand, the Steppenwolf must find a means of justification. One course of action is to look for it in religion. In the Hindu religion, it is believed that when a person dies he or she is reborn as a new being. An Upanishadic verse says: It is the body that dies when left by the self; the self does not die. These religious and philosophical texts based in the Vedic period of Indian thought gave sanction and even recommended that men give up everything and wander about the forests