What game do you win by losing?
In Siddhartha, I think the most complicated step to “diagnose” is the step of Temptation. In fact, I would argue that there is no “true” step of Temptation as Joseph Cambell describes it – a step that may lead the hero to abandon or stray from his or her quest. At first, it seems like the 20 years Siddhartha spends “Among the People”, is a clear deviation from his path towards enlightenment and true inner peace. However, Joseph Campbell’s description of the step has a key caveat — the step of temptation must feel and be a step in the wrong direction if followed. However, while Siddhartha is with Kamala and Kamaswami, he clearly doesn’t think he is deviating from the path. Instead, he sees this embrace of materialism and carnal relationships as a necessary part of enlightenment. He says “He had known for a long time that his Self was Atman, of the same eternal nature as Brahman, but he has never really found his Self, because he had wanted to trap it in the net of thoughts”(47). To...