Kyle Smyre

3501-1126
9/23/13
In Herman Hesses Siddhartha, the most obvious journey of self-discovery is
Siddharthas; however, his childhood friend Govinda also has his own quest in the novel. While
Govindas own journey is not as prevalent, it still shows his interpretation of a Good Life.
Regardless of who is to be considered the main character of Hesses novel, nearly any character
of the story can be looked out to see what their own version of A Good Life. Govindas own
definition of A Good Life is that the eventual goal of his journey is to reach enlightenment.
Contrasted to Siddhartha, Govinda searches for teachers and mentors to follow and learn from
rather than to carve his own path in life.
From the onset of the novel, Govinda is a follower, plain and simple. For many people,
this would be an unacceptable lifestyle with little fulfillment; however, it is clear the he finds
satisfaction in life in being a loyal and devoted friend to Siddhartha. Govinda agrees with
Siddhartha in believing that the Brahmin ways will never allow them to reach enlightenment, and
by choosing to live as a Samana, Govinda is giving up the comfort of his home and family in the
pursuit of knowledge. Albeit, this is upon the urging of Siddhartha. Later in the story, the same
scenario unfolds as the two seek out Gautama Buddha as the next step towards enlightenment. It
is at this point that Govindas path actually diverges. By choosing to abide by the teachings of
Gautama rather than once again follow Siddhartha into the unknown, he is demonstrating his
own pursuit of enlightenment. Although Govinda has shown to be a follower of others, and
continues to be a follower of Gautama, he is showing that to live a Good Life, there will be
moments in time where the opinions/suggestions of others ultimately do not matter and that he
must make his own decision. This could be said for many people who do not make conscious
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attempts and bettering their own lives and instead trying to follow the Good Lives of others,
when in reality, every person has their own individual definition of what is a Good Life.
For a comparison, Jorge Luis Borgess The Aleph shows a different perspective on
what a Good Life is. In The Aleph, the unnamed protagonist behaves incredibly different than
Govinda. Over the course of the story, the protagonist is shown to be distant and emotionally
cold as the result of the death of his lover. His only acquaintance in the story, Daneri, is a person
whom he despises and actively tries to ruin his life through deceit. Upon gazing into the Aleph,
the protagonist does not simply gaze in wonder at the limitless knowledge before him, as
Govinda had done when peering into the mind of Siddhartha. Instead, he lies to make Daneri
appear insane out of spite. The enlightenment that Govinda had been working towards his entire
life came as a result of determination and self-sacrifice to achieve. The unnamed protagonist
reach this point through a stroke of luck, and decided to use the knowledge of its existence to
undermine the work of Daneri.
Govindas pursuit of his own good life is shown to be increasingly selfless, as even
though he was doing this to reach his own enlightenment, nowhere along the way did he try to
ruin the work of others. Rather than reaching the answers to his journey through mere chance,
Govinda was actively seeking enlightenment. For his own good life, finding the answers to the
important questions of life are meaningless if there are no challenges overcome along the way.

Bibliography
Borges, Jorge Luis. El Aleph. Madrid: Alianza, 1997. Jorge Luis Borges: The Aleph. Web.
22 Sept. 2013.
Hesse, Hermann, and Joachim Neugroschel. Siddhartha: An Indian Tale. New York, NY:
Penguin, 2003. Print.