spent there gave birth to one of his most noteworthy achievements, the short novel, Sidhartha.
             Among Herman Hesse's other famous novels are Demian, Steppenwolf and Narcissus and Goldmund. Like the title character in Sidhartha, the characters of his works center around people who do not readily fit into society and their struggle to define themselves and the world around them.
             As noted previously, Sidhartha is the result of an extended visit to India where Hesse sought piece of mind he believed could only be found in Eastern traditions. Many of his characters also seek spiritual resolution to the problems that they face. These problems usually are the result of being free thinkers or more importantly having the ability to think outside the confines that their society imposes especially conformity. Conformity in learning was Hesse's main qualm, upset with the way "learning" was actually the memorization of facts or gaining the ability to think as the "teacher" thought.
             While the traditional story of the Buddha is about the nobleman, Sidhartha, who rejects material possessions after being denied the experience of suffering from his family, Hesse's take on the story has been noted as being a more western-accessible version. Hesse's Sidhartha seeks the original Bodhisatva (Buddha) and other spiritual teachers of India. The original story finds Sidhartha actually becoming the first to be enlightened and named Buddha. This is interesting because of the ability of Hinduism (the birth place of Buddhism) t
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