In this part of the book, Herman Hesse talks about the relationship Siddhartha and his son have. Young Siddhartha doesn´t like his father. The boy is used to living in a luxurious house, using expensive clothing, eating all the food he wants, and receiving the help of many servants. His life by the river is the total opposite; he has to work; there is little food; and there are absolutely no servants to follow his orders. I can't relate to their relationship, but I can relate to one thing; when I do something bad, I can relate to one thing; when I do something bad, I hate when my parents respond in a calm way because then I feel guilty, and I feel like I'm the only bad person in the family. Likewise, young Siddhartha hates that his father respond so calmly to his bad behavior.
On page 100 his feelings are explained. “This father who kept him in this wretched hut bored him, and when he answered his rudeness with a smile, every insult with friendliness, every naughtiness with kindness, that was the most hateful cunning of the old fox. The boy would have much preferred him to threaten him, to ill-treat him.” I can relate to the feelings of the boy. When I do something bad I prefer that my parents shout at me or punish me. I don´t like when they just say something like “you should´ve thought better” or “I expected better from you”. Their calmness at these moments irritates me. I´m not sure why this happens, but I think it’s because when they shout they make you feel like they are bad too, and that they are the bad people. When they punish you, you don´t feel so regretful because you feel they are culpable too by being mean. When your parents react calmly you see they are disappointed, so you feel sad, and regret what you did. You punish yourself and I think that punishing yourself and feeling guilty is harder and more important than when others try to fix your mistakes. I think that Young Siddhartha didn´t like his father reacting calmly because deep inside he would be sorry for his actions. Young Siddhartha didn´t want to regret his actions, instead he wanted to look like a tough guy who had no deep feeling. “There was nothing about this father that attracted him and nothing that he feared.” (Page 100). The boy wants to be tough and his father´s acts of kindness prevent this from happening..
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