Рецензия на книгу

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  aaannnnnnaaa27 октября 2019 г.

  Heaven and hell, the innocence and devil.

  There is no typical time or space when and where the story takes place. The time is Sinclair’s youth. The space is his psyche.

  The central theme of Demian is the process of discovering a deep, true, inner self. As Hesse states: I realize today, that nothing in the world is more distasteful to a man than to take the path that leads to himself.

  We keep track of the boy’s different stages of individuation in each chapter. The story is told chronologically. At the beginning it introduces us to the little boy Sinclair who already starts to doubt if the world consists of only the light and innocence. The concept of good and evil is the central concern of the boy and it appears throughout the whole book. The story continues with telling us about Max Demian, whose role seemed like questioning every story that was believed is unarguable. What Demian does is attacking traditional point of views of good and evil.

  The next chapter sets the beginning of the idea that maybe God is not only good and innocent but also dark and evil. The continuation of the story revolves around this point, introducing us, for instance, to the woman who, symbolically speaking is not fully woman but a combination of both genders. Sinclair meets the figures who play a very specific role at particular stages of his life and are always willing to discuss Sinclair’s thoughts and concerns.

  The ending mildly touches the WW1 and the disaster it will bring, without a visible outcome. In my point of view, this might indicate the uncertainty of Sinclair or how the world would react if he decides one day to openly show both the light and dark in him.

  Was that all happening on the outside or … ?

  For me, the story that has been told is everything but what is written in the book. It is full of symbols. How he perceives his home and family is a very beautiful and alluring point in the book. For Sinclair, this is a representation of purity, the only possible context from his childhood: a world of light and kindness. Time passes, and he gets acquainted with Franz Kromer from their school who has a crucial place in Sinclair’s vision of the world.

  Another aspect is what exactly Sinclair does so bad, that his beliefs start falling apart. He claims he stole apples from their neighbour, which is a direct reference to the Garden of Eden and the forbidden fruits.

  A huge influence of Hesse’s psychiatrist Dr Lang can be seen during the narration. Each character starts shaping Sinclair, acting as mentors and obstacles simultaneously. Despite the fact that they might look very real sometimes, these characters are archetypes coming from Lang’s mentor Dr Jung. The bird, Beatrice, Mother Eve and Demian are the latter produced by the unconscious. Sinclair identifies himself with all of them during different stages of his development. They are not distinct people who come into his life, but what is inside Sinclair and what he goes through to come to the endpoint of self-realization and finding own self.

  In my opinion, the underlying issue of Sinclair’s psychophysical dissonance is the incompleteness of what people believe in. The religion itself, his parents’ belief was taking only one part of the world. Seems like they accept only one part of the reality. However, if you claim that one side of the coin exists, you can’t deny the presence of another side.

  Demian is heaven and hell, the innocence and devil. He is the real world, with all the rights and wrongs. Demian is what Sinclair is reaching for.

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