Hermann hesse narcissus and goldmund

By NASRULLAH MAMBROLon

Although Narcissus and Goldmund investigates the notion of reaching death through love and art, the novel by the esteemed Swiss-German author Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) is a rather serene work, built on bipolar, contrasting patterns.

Hesse’s previous great novels, Demian (1922) and Steppenwolf (1927), illustrate a classical individuation process, achieved under the guidance of a protagonist who plays the role of a catalytic “demon.” In Demian, the powerful and mysterious Max Demian helps his schoolmate Emil Sinclair act out the dark, hidden energies of his psyche to gain metaphysical completeness and personal fulfillment.

The individuation process is guided by Demian’s fascinating mother, Frau Eva, perceived by Sinclair as the embodiment of the profound and cosmic unity of life and death. By choosing Frau Eva as a mother archetype (Urmutter), associated with the glorious figure of a paradoxical lover