A Summary Of Hermann Hesse’s Demian - UC Santa Barbara

1 A Summary Of Hermann Hesse sDemian Kathryn ByrnesWinter 1998 Demian is the story of a boy, Emil Sinclair, and hissearch for himself. Emil was raised in a good traditionalhome at the turn of the century in the young nation ofGermany. His family is rather wealthy and they have areputation as an upright, godly family. As a boy, Sinclairviews the world within the walls of his home as representingall that is good, pure, innocent, and godly. But startingat a young age he feels a constant inner conflict betweenthis world, which he refers to as the world of light andthe outside world, or forbidden realm which representssin, lonliness, deceit, and insecurity. And although hismother, father, and two sisters remain within the world oflight , he constantly feels drawn to the outside realm andis in this way somewhat estranged from his family and theirsphere of security. He ends up vacillating between both and not belonging to struggle between Sinclair s two worlds manifestsitself when Sinclair is about 10 years old.

2 While playingone day with some fellow schoolmates, an older boy, FranzKromer, joins them. In an effort to impress the older boyand his schoolmates, Sinclair makes up a story in which heand another unnamed accomplice stole a bag of apples from afellow neighbor. Although the story is untrue, Kromerthreatens Sinclair with exposure if Sinclair does not payhim off. Unable to pay the full amount, Sinclair is forcedto become Kromer s slave, ultimately sending Sinclair intodepression and paranoia. Sinclair feels trapped by Kromer,forced to live within the forbidden realm , which in turnexiles him from the world of light because he has defiledhimself by lying and committing sinful acts for Kromer. Thisexperience is traumatic for Sinclair and he is often hauntedby nightmares, he is unable to eat, and he becomes withdrawnand sullen. His personality alters as he tries to cope withthe bondage of his slavery to this lower-class,troublemaking kid, but he sees no escape and reluctantlysuccumbs to what he believes to be his arrival of a new kid in town, Max Demian , isnoticed by everyone due to the strange aura thatsurrounds him and his recently widowed the start, Sinclair feels a type of fascination forDemian, a confusing feeling filled with both love and hate.

3 He was in every respect different from all the others, wasentirely himself, with a personality all his own which madehim noticeable even though he did his best not to benoticed; his manner and bearing was that of a princedisguised among farm boys, taking great pains to appear oneof them. 1 The first encounter between Sinclair and Demian occursone day after school as the two boys are walking had learned the biblical story of Cain and Abelfrom the book of Genesis that day in class. Demian starts aconversation about the story and challenges Sinclair to lookat the story from a different perspective. Demian proposesthat Cain carried a mark of distinction because he wasfeared by others due to his strength and that Abel had beenkilled simply because he was the weaker one of the is impressed and at the same time overwhelmed bythis radical perspective which in fact challenges all thetraditions and teachings with which he had been raised.

4 Hetherefore denounces the idea as absurd, as a means to protecthimself and all that he knows to be is not for some time later that Sinclair once againcomes in contact with Demian . It is on a rainy day in thetown square after Sinclair had a troublesome meeting withKromer, who still plagues his life, making him constantlymiserable. Through mere observation, Demian asseses thesituation between Kromer and Sinclair, and Demian confrontsSinclair about his fear of Kromer. Angered by Demian saccurate insight, Sinclair rudely brushes Demian off out offear and frustration, but within the next couple of daysSinclair is freed from his terifying bondage to Kromer whenDemian intervenes without Sinclair s knowledge, causingKromer to leave Sinclair alone for good. Sinclair feels animmense sense of gratitude and indebtness towards Demian forsaving him, but due to his immaturity and fear he is unable 1 Bantam, express this to Demain.

5 Instead, Sinclair confesseseverything to his parents and regresses into a childlikestate within the world of light which provides comfort andsecurity. But due to the severity of the experience andconsequent loss of innocence, Sinclair realizes that he cannever really be a part of the world of light . So, in theblindness of my heart, I chose to be dependent on my fatherand mother, on the old, cherished world of light , though Iknew by now that it was not the only one. 2 Several years pass before Demian and Sinclair have anymore contact. Then, due to odd circumstances, Demian isplaced in Sinclair s confirmation class even though he istwo years older. At this time, Sinclair is dealing, to aneven greater extent, with the conflict between his twoworlds, but no longer is Franz Kromer the outside threat,rather his own sexuall maturity and desires, now constantlyplaguing him. A bond is re-established between the two boysone day in class when the teacher recounts the story of Cainand Abel, bringing back the memory of their first encounterwith each other.

6 But this time Sinclair is not able tosimply ignore the challenge of Demian s radicalinterpretation of the story, instead, Sinclair feelschallenged and motivated by the new perspective. From thismoment on, the two boys begin forming a friendship that willinevitably span their entire lifetime. Demian s friendship 2 a constant challenge to Sinclair s world of light as heoften presents Sinclair with new ideas and challenge helps to drive Sinclair towards new ways ofthinking and feeling, and in the end detachment from hischildhood, his family, and the world of light .The fourth chapter brings the separation of Sinclairand Demian , as well as Sinclair s separation from hisfamily, when Sinclair is sent off to boarding school. Thisforeign world offers only loneliness and insecurity toSinclair, who does not fit in with the other young goes through a trying time of confusion andisloation at the boarding school as he searches for the roadto himself.

7 At one point, out of desperation, Sinclairresorts to rebellion. He begins to drink in bars and hebecomes renowned among his classmates for being careless,sarcastic, and harsh. Slowly his grades begin to suffer andhis reputation among professors is severely tarnished. Isimply did what I had to do, because I had no idea what todo with myself otherwise. 3 Finally, his father is summonedand Sinclair is threatened with expulsion. But theseconsequences are not enough to change him, and just when hethinks his life could not be more senseless, he sees a youngwoman in a park one day. Her beauty overwhelms him and hebecomes infatuated with her, giving her the name infatuation is the motivation he needs to turn his lifearound. Once more I was trying most strenuously toconstruct an intimate world of light for myself out of theshambles of a period of devestation; once more I sacrificedeverything within me to the aim of banishing darkness andevil from myself.

8 4 He also begins to paint, at first outof the desire to paint Beatrice, but since he is unable todo so to his own satisfaction, he paints all that he seesaround him. Then one day, almost without knowing it, hepaints the face of a woman that will forever alter his life. It resembled a kind of image of God or a holy mask, halfmale, half female, ageless, as purposeful as it was dreamy,as rigid as it was secretly alive. 5 He worships thispainting, this image, finding security and comfort in begins to dream again as he had as a child, and hisdreams are filled with her. Then one morning he wakes up torealize that she resembles someone who is real, someone heknows. She resembles Demian . This realization brings backmemories of his friend whom he had admired and respected somuch. A terrible longing to see him again fills his heart,although he has no means to find one day Sinclair recounts their first encounterwith each other, the day Demian had told him his version ofthe story of Cain and Abel.

9 Sinclair also remembersDemian s interest that day in an old coat of arms that hung 3 pg. 634 pg. 67above the door of Sinclair s house. The emblem is that of asparrow hawk. Sinclair feels propelled by this memory topaint the old emblem. After several days of painting, hefinishes it to find a picture of a sparrow hawk emerging orfighting it s way out of a globe or a giant egg. He thenmails the painting to Demian , not knowing if it will everreach him. A while later, to his great surprise, Sinclairfinds a note in his book one day during class. The notereads: The bird fights his way out of the egg. The egg isthe world. Who would be born must first destroy a bird flies to God. That God s name is Abraxas. 6 Thenote is from understanding what exactly the note means, Sinclairis just grateful to hear from his old friend who he missesso much.

10 For the next several months Sinclair lives inisolation, he lives with his paintig of the hawk, hispainting of Demian , and his dreams. One particular dreamcomes to him often, continually gaining in meaning for dream is of the woman who resembles Demian , but she ismore feminine, almost motherly. This woman embraces him ashe enters his father s house, first passing under the coatof arms which bears the sparrow hawk. The embrace of thiswoman fills Sinclair with every emotion, whether it is loveor hate, sacred or defiled, right or wrong. Too many 5 pg. 696 pg. 76associations with my mother and friend comingled with thisfigure embracing me. Its embrace violated all sense ofreverence, yet it was bliss. Sometimes I awoke from thisdream with a feeling of profound ecstasy, at others inmortal fear and with a racked conscience as though I hadcommitted some terrible crime.