Demian

                                  

To be honest, I am not even sure if I should write a book review on Demian. The book is amazing and at several moments through the book I thought it was absolutely genius. However, once I was done reading it I thought I might forget what the book is about, as we often forget even the most wonderful moments of our lives with time. Then I had kind of an intense discussion with my friend, who had suggested the book to me in the first place. I realized the book has more to it, and wanted to share my views, but I did not quite know what to do. I then decided to write a book review on it, though I was not sure if a book review would help, as Demian is philosophical, and philosophies should really be left up to the reader to interpret, as there can be 1000 different interpretations of a philosophical paragraph. Nevertheless, here I am, and I am going to express my views and opinions. I strongly urge you to read the book if you are interested in philosophy, it makes you think real hard. I myself took about 2-3 months to finish the book, which has only 189 pages, and I usually finish a story of 189 pages in around 3 days. I took that much time to digest and understand the views Hermann Hesse presents throughout the book. So here goes:

Hermann Hesse wrote Demian in 1919, and was a really influential writer and thinker. Demian describes the journey of Emil Sinclair, a pseudonym Hermann used in his books, and how Emil grew up and developed his soul. The book later on describes people like Emil as ‘people with a mark’, who explore and develop a certain side of their mind or soul, rather their psyche, as described by Hesse. These people are more aware in a way, and deep thinkers. Emil describes these people as awakened or still waking. I am sure there have been many books on similar topics, movies too, but this was my first philosophical book, and I was completely amazed by how Hesse presents the topics and articulates them. According to the story, Emil is a young boy who views the world in a quite unique way. He talks about the world around him being divided in two worlds: one pure and white with his family and inside his house, and the other right outside his house with other people, their problems, mysteries, etc. When he is about 10, he finds himself in trouble with a bully in his area. Then a new boy, Max Demian, shifts into his school. Emil sees Demian as older, and possibly wiser, than him. He helps Sinclair out with his problem with the bully, and presents theories and pushes Sinclair to think ‘out of the box’. For instance, Demian pushes Sinclair by providing a different view on the story of Cain, and tells him that just because people say something is forbidden, it is not forbidden for you too, as what is forbidden in one country may not in the other, hence pushing Sinclair to think on his own and not be ‘limited’ as such by society. I found some similar interesting philosophies presented in the book. Following is one-

“We’re comprised of everything that comprises the world, each of us, and just as our body bears within it the lines of evolutionary descent all the way back to the fish and even much farther beyond that, in the same way our soul contains everything that has ever dwelt in human souls. All the gods and devils that ever existed, whether among Greeks, Chinese, or Zulus, are all inside us, they exist there as possibilities, as wishes, as ways of escape. If mankind died out except for a single half-gifted child that received no education, that child would rediscover the whole course of events, it would be able to produce again the gods, demons, Edens, positive and negative commandments, the Old and the New Testament.” 

He then writes that one should have the knowledge that ‘he carries the world inside him’, because that piece of knowledge makes one a ‘true’ human being. I agree more or less with it, that we have good and bad sides, we contain inside us everything that ever dwelt in human souls.

In the discussion I had later on with my friend, she said that perhaps what Emil explores in the book in his soul (the ‘awakening’) is something that we all have inside us, and that the book just tells the story of Sinclair exploring this side in his soul, something we all are capable of doing. 

In a way, we perhaps have a Demian and an Emil Sinclair inside us, we just have to explore it and understand it.