Today, mankind has integrated symbols into their culture with each one meaning something different, authors use symbols in their novels, sometimes using them to give a more spiritual tone. The German novel Siddhartha is written by Hermann Hesse uses many symbols, one of which is the river. Siddhartha is a novel about a boy and his friend trying to reach total enlightenment. The river represents the cleansing of one's spirit, reveals the message that time has no meaning, and Siddhartha effects the novel by revealing the theme of love.
The river in Siddhartha represents the cleansing of one's spirit. When Siddhartha finds the river for the second time, he lies down and falls into a deep sleep that reawakens him to the world. The river "speaks" to Siddhartha during his sleep, and cleanses his spirit, free of emotional pain. The river also speaks to Vasudeva the ferryman. Vasudeva learns that the river has many voices that collectively say the word "om." Furthermore, the river reveals to Siddhartha and Vasudeva that time has no meaning.
Siddhartha and Vasudeva both learn that time has no true meaning by listening and watching the river. After Siddhartha learns what true love is, he returns to the river and it teaches him that time is irrelevantt. Siddhartha listens to the river, and hears many voices all telling him the word "om." Siddhartha also learns that time has no meaning while watching the river. Siddhartha sees that the river is in constant change, but remains changeless, showing him that time does not affect the flowing waters and therefore has no meaning. However, Siddhartha does not understand this until he finds out what true love is.
Without knowing what true love is, Siddhartha cannot hear to the rivers many voices. Siddhartha does not know what true love is, and because of that he cannot hear the many voices of the river. Siddhartha has lost the memory of the holy word "om," when he is able to listen to the river, it reminds him of the holy word.