The novel "Narcissus and Goldmund" is a landmark work for the German writer Hermann Hesse. In it, the author expressed his idea of the human path, of the artist’s spirituality and mastery, of love and the search for the meaning of life.
Interesting facts about the life of Hermann Hesse
The writer was born in the small town of Calw, which belongs to the German lands of Baden-Württemberg. Father and mother came from a Protestant family. The ancestors of the father were engaged in missionary activities, and the parents of the future writer, following the family tradition, went to preach the Gospel to India, but poor health forced them to return to Germany.
In his son, the father saw the successor of the missionary family, for this reason German Hesse first studied at the missionary school, and then in the boarding house of the city of Basel. When Herman was sent to the theological seminary, he simply escaped from there and began to look for jobs at a printing house, and then at a watch factory.
The writer loved to read, there was a large library in his house, and the young Hesse could spend hours reading books. He got a job in a bookstore, engaged in self-education. For 4 years he studied philosophy, literature, the history of art and languages. He entered the University of Tübingen. Hesse became a free listener, and after some time he moved from a bookstore to a second-hand bookstore. When fees for books made it possible to provide for a family, Hesse forever said goodbye to the work of a bookstore salesman.
Herman was married three times, in 1946 he received the Nobel Prize in literature. He died of leukemia near Lugano in August 1962.
A brief outline of Hesse’s career
The first serious work of Hermann Hesse was called Peter Kamenzind. The novel received positive reviews, and its author - a good offer of cooperation from one of the major German publishers.
In subsequent years, the writer published the autobiographical novel Under the Wheel, the novel Gertrude, a collection of short stories and poems about a trip to India, and the instructive parable Siddhartha.
When the First World War began, German Hesse opposed the militaristic policy of the Kaiser. But the people in Germany were infected with imaginary patriotism, and the writer's warnings were not taken seriously. German newspapers and literary critics formed the idea of Hess as a traitor among the people. The writer emigrated to Switzerland and renounced German citizenship.
In Switzerland, Hermann Hesse writes novels that glorified his name in literature:
- "Demian."
- "Narcissus and Goldmund."
- "Steppe wolf."
- "The game of beads."
Next, we will consider one of them.
Summary of the novel Narcissus and Goldmund
The novel was published in 1930. Consider the summary of "Narcissus and Goldmund" by Hermann Hesse.
At the beginning of the novel, the author introduces us to the real southern chestnut. This tree grows at the arch in front of the entrance to the monastery of Mariabronn. The chestnut remembers the faces, light hairstyles of all the students who studied at the monastery. Many left the walls of Mariabronne forever, but some remained and became novices, and then monks.
An elderly father brings his son, Goldmund, to the monastery. He is thoughtful and a little reserved. He has no friends, except for the novice Narcissus, who is studying Greek with his students. They spend all their free time together, talking, walking around the monastery. Narcissus feels that Goldmund has certain problems, and wants to understand what he keeps in his memory. In another conversation, Narcissus gives birth to a memory of the mother in the boy’s mind, because of which the young man leaves the monastery and goes into the world.
Having received freedom, Goldmund enjoys it to the full. Wine, women, free sexual relations - the joy of freedom overwhelms a young man.
Goldmund comes in his travels to the castle of a noble knight. He spends a lot of time in the castle and falls in love with the daughter of the knight Lydia. For an objectionable relationship with Lydia, the knight drives Goldmund out of the castle.
The young man meets a wanderer, whose name is Victor. They travel together, but one day Victor makes an unsuccessful attempt to rob a friend. Goldmund kills Victor and realizes that the life of a wanderer can provoke him to more serious crimes. He decides what to tie with such a life.
Goldmund comes to the monastery and with admiration and respect for the master appreciates the work of the statue of the Virgin Mary. He goes to Niklaus, the man who created such beauty that he taught him how to make such masterpieces. The master looks through the drawings and drawings of Goldmund, sees the potential in a young man and agrees to take him as a student. At the end of the training, Goldmund does the excellent work of the Apostle John. Nicklaus wants to leave Goldmund his workshop and offers the hand of his daughter, Lisbeth. But the young man refuses and leaves Niklaus.
The plague struck Europe and ruined many human lives. Goldmund in his wanderings encounters a plague. He meets a girl Lena and falls in love with her. To save his beloved, Goldmund takes Lena away from the plague. They want to live in calm and peace, for this Goldmund is building a house in the rural wilderness. But Lena becomes infected with the plague and dies. Goldmund sets fire to the house and decides to return to Nicklaus. When he comes to the city, he learns that the good wise master is dead.
A young man in the same city is sent to prison. Miraculously, Narcissus frees him and takes him back to the monastery. Now he became abbot and became a monk, taking the name John. In the monastery, Goldmund is engaged in making statues. He especially succeeded in the statue of the Virgin Mary.
At the end of the book, Goldmund goes on another trip, but comes to the monastery already completely sick. He dies, and the good Narcissus is with him until the very end.
After being published, Narcissus and Goldmund received the best reviews, and Thomas Mann called it the best novel of the year.
The image of Narcissus in the novel
We meet Narcissus on the first pages of the novel. He is a very gifted novice of the monastery, a great expert on the Greek language. Narcissus does not see himself outside the walls of Mariabronne, because he loves science and God. He does not have friends in the monastery, except for the abbot of Daniel, many envy the talents of the novice and slander the abbot about him.
Narcissus does not crave changes in life, he devotes all his free time to communication with Goldmund and the study of science. With fervor, Narcissus defends scientific observations in front of other teachers, we see that he values truth and justice most of all.
In the last chapters, Narcissus is not just a novice, but already the abbot of the monastery. He has power in society, because it is not just that Goldmund is released from prison. Narcissus negotiates with the Count to rescue a friend from trouble.
Goldmund and his way
Goldmund is the central character of the novel. From the contents of the book Narcissus and Goldmund, it can be seen that at the beginning of the work he is a kind, sentimental and lively young man. He does not want to become an ascetic; Goldmund loves the world and seeks sensual relationships. I recall an episode from the novel: when the boy first kissed the girl, he was shocked by this event. He wants a repeat of this kiss, longs for more and more return to this girl.
Goldmund leaves the monastery and wanders in search of life's destiny. He is looking for his own way, and how difficult it is for a master and an artist to find himself in this world. As a result, Goldmund becomes a student of the master Nicklaus and becomes a woodcarver. He found what he was looking for, but his passion for travel, which attracts him farther and farther, does not leave Goldmund.
The path of the artist
In the book Narcissus and Goldmund, Hesse shows the reader two different ways that an artist and a creative person can go.
Narcissus is a thinker and an ascetic monk. He personifies the mind, analytical abilities and sober mind. Narcissus resembles a psychotherapist of the Middle Ages, it is very important for him to have information about others in order to judge a person.
Goldmund is the exact opposite of Narcissus. He is a dreamer and creator. Goldmund is an artist, and therefore the world of spirit and thought is not suitable for him. Having gone through certain tests, Goldmund finds his way into woodcarving, he creates beautiful and unique examples of art.
Mother's World in a Hessian Novel
Goldmund vaguely recalls the image of a mother whom she had never seen. This happened during one of the conversations with Narcissus. At night, a company of guys escapes from the monastery to the girls, where Goldmund kissed a representative of the opposite sex for the first time. He tells Narcissus about his feelings and suddenly faints. Goldmund has a dream about his mother, where in front of him is a tall woman with blue eyes. She tells him that he does not remember his childhood. Goldmund wakes up and realizes that he needs to change his life.
He seeks the image of a mother in every woman, but never finds her. Meeting with many women on the journey of life, the protagonist understands that the nature of mother and the nature of death go side by side (the murder of a stranger who wanted to rape Lena, and the murder of Victor, a plague epidemic).
At the end of the book, Goldmund understands that the mother’s world is life in the lap of nature. Nature is the mother for man. People go through cycles: childhood, adulthood, death (life, fruits and emptying of fruits).
The philosophical context of the novel
The book "Narcissus and Goldmund" is close to the philosophy of Nietzsche and Jung. Consider several important details of philosophy in the novel.
Friedrich Nietzsche has the work “The Birth of Tragedy”, where he distinguishes the Apollonian and Dionysian principles in man.
Narcissus carries the signs of Apollo. He is restrained, very often shows calm and perseverance. Goldmund represents Dionysus, he is often childish, fickle and very passionate. It is strange that such differences bring two people together.
Jung believed that opposites combine and find each other. He developed typical archetypes of human nature. The world of mother and the world of father merge in Hermann Hesse's novel Narcissus and Goldmund into a unity, one whole. Goldmund is a typical representative of the art world, and Narcissus is a man of science, Christianity. According to Jung's conception, different principles, male and female, are easier to combine than male and male principles or female and female.
The meaning of the novel
The novel can be interpreted in different ways. What is Hermann Hesse's book Narcissus and Goldmund about?
First of all, about the search for the life path and the meaning of life, about the problems of the artist, about the search for truth and the maternal principle.