DEMIAN by Hermann Hesse: brief SUMMARY by chapters + ANALYSIS
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On July 2, 1877, he was born Hermann Hesse in Calw, Germany. He is one of the writers of training novel most relevant worldwide, all his work is a search for self-realization from a very philosophical and spiritual point of view. He always wanted to replace traditional values, which he no longer considered valid, with new ones. One of the first works that he published and that most reflects the first stage of his personal search is "Demian", a work that was published in 1919, initially under the pseudonym Emil Sinclair. So that you know a little more about this relevant novel, we bring you in a PROFESSOR a brief summary and analysis of Demian by Hermann Hesse.
Index
- Hermann Hesse's Demian Summary by Chapters
- Herman Hesse Demian Chapter 5-8 Summary
- Demian analysis of Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse's Demian summary by chapters.
"Demian"is the story of himA personal search and the path to maturity of Emil Sinclair, who we will know from childhood to adolescence. It is about a character who has always lived according to the correct morality and who believes that being good is his only task, he does not yet know the evil of the world. On his way, he will appear
Max demian, a very important character who gives the novel its title and who will force Emil to question all the things that happen in his life in a philosophical and critical way. It is, say, a kind of guidethat will lead you to constantly question yourself, to discover the hidden face of the world and to break with all those paradigms that were instilled in him.Chapter I: The Two Worlds
Emil Sinclair begins in this first chapter to describe us in the first person the different worlds that have marked his life: on the one hand, his family environment (parents, friends ...) that belong to the "good" and on the other hand, all those people outside the family nucleus, who belong to "evil" and are characterized by seeking only their own interest.
Chapter II: Cain
The second chapter begins with the entry of a new classmate to Emil Sinclair's classes: Max Demian. This new partner is seen by Sinclair as someone mature, intelligent, with his own vision of things and with a conception of good and evil very different from Emil's. He tells us in the chapter the reinterpreted biblical story about Cain and Abel, of which he has made his own version of it. On the other hand, Demian will help Emil to intervene in the relationship he has with a partner who abuses him: Kromer.
Chapter III: The Bad Thief
In this chapter Demian recounts another biblical story again interpreted in his own way: that of the good thief and the bad thief. Demian's opinion is completely inverse, for him the best thief is the bad one, because by being able to change his initial position in certain circumstances, he shows strength of character. Demian also exposes his dual thinking, he considers that good and evil are united and do not have to be separated in the way that humans normally tend to do.
Chapter IV: Beatrice
Emil Sinclair is sent to boarding school to improve his qualifications, the result being completely inverse. Sinclair starts dating more and in one of his outings, he meets Beatrice, a love that will inspire the best thoughts in him. Obsessed with her, he decides to paint her and by doing so, he realizes that her drawing is exactly the same as Max's face and not Beatrice's. Emil has a dream as a result of this circumstance and when he wakes up to find that the rain had spoiled the drawing a bit and now he looks like a kind of bird, he decides to send it to his friend Demian.
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Summary of Demian chapters 5-8 by Herman Hesse.
We now turn to Demian's summary by Herman Hesse talking about what happens from chapter 5 to 8, that is, the second half of the novel. Here is a detailed summary:
Chapter V: The bird hatches
Demian responds to her friend through a metaphor where considers the bird as a new God: Abraxas. Interestingly, in a Sinclair philosophy class, her professor mentions Abraxas and defined her as an ancient deity who contained both good and evil within herself. Emil goes out for a walk and meets an organist who is playing music in a church to whom he decides to tell the story of Abraxas.
Chapter VI: The Fight of James
One day Emil receives a message from his friend Kromer, she who asks him for help to stay on the path of good, distancing him from any idea related to sex. Emil rejects the offer but ends up meeting him almost magically, face to face.
Chapter VII: Frau Eva
Sinclair decides to find his friend Max. He discovers that he has gone on a trip, but still continues looking for him until he finds him. Demian welcomes him into his home, and there Sinclair meets his mother, Frau Eva. Emil falls madly in love with her.
Chapter VIII: The Beginning of the End
The last chapter explains the start of the war in Russia. Both friends are forced to fight on the front lines and in the middle of the battle, Emil is injured in an explosion. In the hospital the friends meet again, injured. Nevertheless, Max Demian tells Emil that he is going to march and to seek him out, whenever he wants, in his spirit. The next morning there is no sign of Demian and in his place, another wounded soldier appears.
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Demian analysis of Hermann Hesse.
The novel of "Demian" it's a portrait of 20th century Europe. Young Sinclair begins to discover a completely amoral new world. That world is actually Germany on the brink of the Great War. There are also numerous references to the Bible and to Nietzsche's thought, as well as to psychoanalysis, especially Jungian.
Sexuality also plays an important role in this work, Beatrice is the first sexual personification in Sinclair's life who, like Dante of the "Divine Comedy"He chooses a new sexual image that dethrons Jesus Christ, following the sole criterion of sexual admiration and the creation of his own religion. Frau Eva, Demian's mother, represents a kind of priestess which also attracts the sexual desire of Sinclair, which does not stop representing the real desire: Demian. There are several descriptions of a sexual nature from Sinclair towards Demian, where at the end of the novel, they kiss leading to Max's death.
Sinclair's drawing acts like a mirror for the soul of the protagonist, of Europe and of the world, it is a similarity and a reference to "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Dreams play an important role here at the moment of drawing, revealing true consciousness to Sinclair based on an idea of Jung: "The information of the Universe is intrinsic in all individuals."
Hesse poses a mission to man: become aware of yourself. Good and bad fight or cast together in Emil Sinclair's life and throughout Hesse's novel. The story of Emil searching for himself is the story of death and resurrection.
Let's say that the work moves between love and the constant death of various subjects: the State, morality, God, the mother, the teacher and finally, death itself. A novel full of depth that is worth reading.
If you want to read more articles similar to Hermann Hesse's Demian: Summary and Analysis, we recommend that you enter our category of History of Literature.
Bibliography
- Abrego, A. (2008). Demian. Literary Fortnights (1), 179.
- Anonymous (2016). Demian Chapter Summary. The Pensante.
- Moral, N. (2013). Demian, the path to oneself. Pastiche (8), 18-21.
