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DEMIAN
Demian is the story of Emil Sinclair's youth, written by Hermann Hesse which was published in 1919 and was repeated in 1960 with an additional prologue. Hess later said he chose the name Emil Sinclair because he was a friend of Novalis and Hess adored Novalis, the young poet and philosopher.
Emil belonged to a bourgeois home called Scheinwelt which meant World of Light or World of Illusion. The novel is about the awakening of his own identity, self and individuality. In this journey he is accompanied by his rather mysterious classmate called Max Demian. Emil's journey of growth through philosophy, mysticism, self-awareness and psychoanalysis is fascinating and made Hess one of the best selling novelists of his time. His fame endures even today and there are multi-lingual translations of his works all over the world.
Sigmund Freud's system of psychoanalysis has been woven into this novel with commendable skill and apparently it also deals with Jungian Individuation. The novel is supposed to have been written in approximately three weeks and this added to its already mystifying contours. It is important to note that Hesse was extraordinarily influenced by Dr. Freud's psychoanalysing system. Hesse, who already had leanings towards mysticism, used the non-mystic psychoanalysis of the Father of Modern Psychology to pronounced advantage. Just as any other thinker of the early 20th century, Hesse was drawn towards the unveiling of psychological possibilities by Dr. Freud. Dr. Freud was not acknowledged by the general public, his arguments being too radical for prudish sections of society who were slowly emerging out of Victorian conventional ways. On the other hand, thinkers, scholars, writers and scientists of this era were not only suitably impressed by his arguments but also eagerly imbibed the theories into their own works and Hesse was one among them.
The book is a revolt against the superficial ideals and beliefs of the world. Jungian Individuation is about the differentiated and undifferentiated components that would eventually contribute to the revealing of self. Hesse thinks that many people never become human during their lifetime. "Many men are human beings above and fish below. Yet each one represents an attempt on the part of nature to create a human being. We enjoy a common origin in our mothers; we all come from the same pit. But each individual, who is himself an experimental throw from the depths, arrives towards his own goal. We can understand each other; but each person is able to interpret himself to himself alone," (p.8, prologue).
Hess has tried to explore the duality of spirit, nature and the individual's own spiritual search outside societal, physical, traditional, geographical and environmental restrictions. This novel is the journey of the protagonist in the quest of self-knowledge and exploration. It is famously said that Hesse had always been in search of knowledge beyond the world "deluded by money, number and time."
He wrote the novel in 1917 when he was still undergoing the trauma. The war had been ongoing for three years, the United States has freshly declared war against Germany, the world was in total confusion and no one knew the future or outcome. Hesse had lost his father a year before, his son was seriously ill and his wife had a mental breakdown. "Sometimes we seek a book that's revolutionary--something that makes us think about the state of the world, about ourselves, about growing up and getting old, about who we are as a people and as individuals and what we may become" writes Esther Lombardi in her review.
http://classiclit.about.com/od/demian/fr/aafpr_demian.htmThe story is set in Germany and begins when Emil was ten years old. It is the Germany just before the First World War, the narrative is strongly symbolic and has vivid connections with various theologies. The character of Max Demian, Emil's classmate, helps Emil with the psychological exploration. All along, a number of teachers appear in character roles who also help Emil during his psychological journey and the novel ends with both men being wounded in the First World War. It also touches upon the trauma of the war and the post war period youth in Germany, her loss and predicament of being unable to mourn for the dead, branded and humiliated as the defeated nation. The Emperor, who dragged the nation into the war resulting in the unfortunate suffering of millions ,eventually abandoning the country and citizens to their own fate to flee, and the hopelessness of the future and lack of dignity the country was enduring.
Many concepts of Christian, Nietzschean philosophy combined with Eastern mysticism are part of the novel. Self-exploration had been a passion with Hesse all his life. "This time, however, I was not spared a self-examination. Before long I found myself obliged to seek the cause of my sufferings not outside but inside myself. For this much at least I could clearly see; to accuse the whole world of delusion and brutality was something no human being and no god had a right to do, I least of all" in Michels (1975, p.15).
The narrative status and the first-person account suits the novel and its story because an inner exploration cannot be done without the first person narrative. The religious impulse in Hesse is apparent in this novel. Theodore Ziolhowski (1973) says Demian is the 'Quest for the Grail'. "The myth of the quest means many things to many men. The theme is so pervasive, in fact, that some scholars have argued that it determines virtually all mythic and literary patterns," Ziolhowski (1973, p.136).
Most of his works were considered to be unusually autobiographical. "According to Hugo Ball, Demian was written in white heat, under the immediate impact of the psychotherapy of Dr. Lang, who appears in other writings, including Die Morgenlandfahrt, under the name Longus. The connection with Jung is clear, but the Romantic tradition, too, involves a probing of the unconscious," Weisstein (1970, p.43). Throughout, the reader is made to follow the experience of the callow youth, his innocence and the surrounding utopia being disturbed by the encroachment of Kromer, until Demian makes it meaningful and divine, whilst the stunning interpretation of his Cain and Abel in the confirmation class also coincides with the Freudish disturbing dreams of sexual awakening. Some of the critics are of the opinion that there is more of Jung and less of Freud in the novel with the exception of the Oedipus complex that crops up when Emil was encouraged by Kromer to attack his father.
Demian's influence is of a totally different kind but steadying, almost as a surrogate religion that Emil recognises even in his innocence. "The more indifferent this attitude made me towards religious instruction, the more interested I became in Demian. A bond seemed to exist between us. And I must choose this moment to follow up that thread in lmy life as accurately as I can," (p. 50).
Demian's praise of the thief who did not repent while being crucified with Jesus and his insistence that an individual should create his own God and Devil with the mention of Abraxas, and the way his "childhood fell in ruins about him" after Demian moves away could all be part of normal childhood with its doubts, ignorance and a certain amount of hero worship. The appearance of 'Beatrice', who wipes out his isolation with painted dreams, are also nothing out of the ordinary. The novel rises above the mundane when Emil finds Demian's enigmatic answer on his desk. From there onwards, the journey becomes more and more mystical with the introduction of blurring realities and efforts of uniting the divine and diabolical. From here, the reader starts questioning the existence of Demian, Frau Eva and Beatrice, because they look more and more like people dwelling in Emil's unconscious, another reference to Dr. Freud.
Also introduced is the technique of keeping the characters in light, shade and blurring the demarcation lines between internal and external existence. "At the beginning, we feel comfortably secure in the familiar narrative technique, which delineates the boy Sinclair in a clearly outlined external environment. But imperceptibly, the persons and things surrounding Sinclair retreat into a shadowy unreality which exists only for the sake of Sinclair and especially his unconscious," Field, (1970, p.45). The theme is mainly about knowing the self, where other characters become suspiciously fictional, almost non-existing.
"On the spiritual level Demian-Christ is certainly a projection of Sinclair's own thoughts; he belongs to the sequence of transcended external ideals like Beatrice and Abraxas. Yet at the same time, he has an undeniable fictive existence as a real character who lives and dies," Ziolkowski (1965, p.143).
Throughout, Demian remains a Christ like halo figure with the possibility of miracles, though not highly pronounced. His disputes with teachers, his preaching of 'coming kingdom' lends a religious air. The Nietzschean doctrine too is mentioned in the novel in a rather surreptitious way. Still, the novel's basic structure, language and images are all religious. "In place of all this, I raised my altar with the image of Beatrice, and in dedicating myself to her; I was dedicating myself to the Holy Spirit and the gods, sacrificing the portion of my life which I had withdrawn from the powers of darkness to the powers of light. My goal became purity, not pleasure; happiness was replaced by beauty and spirituality," (p.76).
Demian, even though mystical, does not remain an outside entity, but involves himself in the novel although he fails to rise above criticism that his existence could be a matter of Emil's fertile imagination and he actually belongs to the landscape of Emil's mind. Still, Emil shows the inner strength and motivation to continue his lonely way, without his leader and that perhaps is the victory for Demian. According to Ziolkovski, to attain this status, Emil goes through three stages, one of childish innocence, another of magical thinking and innocence with the third stage of finding 'the ultimate synthesis of these conflicting worlds within himself'. Emil reaches the final psychological independency when he says:
"But when on the many such occasions I find the key and look deep down into myself where the images of destiny lie slumbering in the dark mirror, I only need to bend my head over the black mirror to see my own image which now wholly resembles him, my friend and leader," (p.155).
To reach here, he undergoes throes of uncertainty, dependency and self-doubt. "My longing for Max Demian overwhelmed me again. I had had no news of him for years...I must fill this gap," (p. 80). The anxiety of being alone and unguided comes across again and again in the novel with the desire to find his security in the leader.
"In those days I ran around like a blind man. Storms raged inside me; every step was danger. I saw nothing in front of me except the abysmal darkness into which all former paths ended and vanished. And within myself I saw the image of the leader who resembled Demian and in whose eyes my fate could be read," (p. 122).
Emil seems to establish an almost similar connection with the absent Beatrice, although not on the same scale. Here, Beatrice emerges more hazy as Emil has never properly spoken to her, even although he describes her as 'tall and slender, elegantly dressed,' with 'a touch of exuberance and boyishness in her face'. He goes on to describe the profound influence she had over him, which inspired him to be self-reflective by turning away from dark forces and striving to attain "purity and nobility." Her mission is almost similar to that of Demian.
Demian connects two eras of German history, one being the German Empire, another, First World War, leading Weimar Republic. Novel is considered to be semi-autobiographical leading to self-discovery through unconventional ways.
On the contrary, Roney (1999) argues that the novel is based upon a 'grand and masterful irony' where the reader is tricked into following Emil 'right to perdition'. He argues that it was Sinclair who died and not Demian and Demian had led Sinclair to hell. "Significantly, as Sinclair describes Demian, there is no mention of wound, bandage or injury on his face or body; Sinclair feels blood in his mouth. Demian moves and speaks freely, in order to kiss Sinclair; Sinclair can neither move nor speak. Demian describes Sinclair as "in a bad way" (Hesse, p. 140). Cumulatively, these clues make it overwhelmingly probable that Sinclair is dying, not Demian." This is an interesting view, rather unconventional; but also shows how religious feelings could be drawn out of the novel.
At the same time, Emil's journey could be of any of the readers and hence, the popularity of the novel. His fight to come out of Kromer's bondage, his constant regression to the 'world of light' of innocence and security, his conflicting connection with Pictorius, his meeting Knauer, his confusing, but motivating dreams and his recognition of what Pictorius has already given him, "He had led me along a path that would transcend and leave even him, the leader, behind." It is impossible not to recognise our own journeys of life and most of the novel does not fail to strike a chord or other in every reader. It is a psycho-analytical self-revelation that happens to most of us. The mystic and religious side of the novel could appeal to some of the readers, but not all. What appeals to all is the psychology and its familiarity to all readers. It is as though Emil is narrating what every human goes through in his own journey of life.
Hesse's relevance to mankind lies here. The uncommonly common story of life touches all, especially the students and this is mentioned by Otten (1970, pp.10-11): "It is only natural that, since they find so many of their own innermost thoughts confirmed in Hesse's writings, they turn to him for guidance. But they should be looking, not for a guide, but for a mirror which will allow them to see themselves more clearly...he was really Siddharta...Hesse is your mirror." Hesse mentions in his Prologue that "I have been and still am a seeker."
Siddharta Gautama, the real name of the Prince who became Buddha later, was a seeker of truth all his life. It is difficult not to see the same principle in Emil of Damien.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. Field, George Wallis (1970), Hermann Hesse, Twayne Publishers, Inc., New York.
2. Hess, Hermann (1969), Demian, Panther Books Ltd., London.
3. Michels, Volker (1975), Hermann Hesse, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York.
4. Otten Anna (1970), Hesse Companion, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt.
5. Roney, Stephen K. (1999), Hesse's Demian as a Christian Morality Play, HHP Journal Vol. II. Nr.6.
6. Ziolkowshi, Theodore (1973), Hesse, A collection of critical essays, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
7. Ziolkowski, Theodore (1965), The Novels of Hermann Hesse, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
ONLINE SOURCES:
1. http://classiclit.about.com/od/demian/fr/aafpr_demian.htm
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