Siddhartha is a book about constant learning of wisdom. Siddhartha goes through life learning as much as he can. He goes through life, meeting every teacher he can find, and learning as much as he can from them. He learned a lot through his teachers, but about halfway through life, he realizes that he can't learn wisdom through words, but must learn it on his own. When Siddhartha realized that, he found wisdom through the symbolic river.
The beginning of the book was about how Siddhartha had gone through life and didn't know what he was searching for. He was always searching for one thing. He started as a Brahman's child, and tells his dad that he wants to leave the house and join the Samana. His main goal through the Samana was to learn how to destroy the Self, and to do that he must learn how to do three basic things. He must learn to fast, which helps him to go a long time without eating, he must learn to wait, and he must learn to think.
After he realizes he isn't finding what he is looking for with the Samana, and goes to the Buddha, where he realizes that he doesn't like to be taught, and that he must gain wisdom on his own. That is where he leaves his childhood friend, Govinda. When he leaves his friend he doesn't know where to go, so he wanders until he comes into a town where he becomes a wealthy villager.
Here he learns the human problems, such as drinking, love and money. He didn't know them, because he had been in the forest a long time. Although he doesn't like to be taught, a girl called Kamala was his teacher of love. His teacher of drinking and of money was his boss. He stays until he gets restless and wants to travel again, then he goes to the river and lives with Vasudeva, the fairy boat guy. .
The river is the most important part of the book. The river has many symbolic references, such as the river talks to both him and Vasudeva, and it gives the knowledge he has been looking for all his life.
