Siddhartha Says

I backtracked a little bit to be able to write this entry, back to the beginning of the chapter "By the River".
Currently in Siddhartha, our main character has just fled his town without a word, and is now standing by a river which he had crossed when he was a young man. Except this time, he is completely unhappy with himself, and his spirit has long been in a deep slumber. As he stands by the river, he contemplates and almost attempts suicide, as he feels like the cycle of life has come to an end, and that there was no point in repeating anything over again as nothing made him content (page 71). In response to that, I feel sympathetic with him, because suicide is a serious thing and anybody who is suicidal needs some genuine help to save them. I can see where his sadness is coming from, because what we've read about Siddharthas life is pretty dreary and repetetive, and he never seemed happy with himself or anything around him. All in all his life has seemed to take a turn from one kind of monotony to a worse kind of monotony.
He claims, "Might the demons tear him to little pieces!" (page 71). In my opinion, this is a little bit overexaggerated, but suicidal people can do brash, melodramatic things. It's almost as if it's a cry for help, from what I've learned about depression and suicide. This also goes to show that anybody, regardless of background, can develop severe depression and suicidal tendencies,because, as we see here, Siddhartha had every material thing a man could want. You'd think he should be more content with his life, and his money among other things, but depression is a severe mental illness that shouldn't be ignored or put to the side as Siddhartha did.
It was different for Siddhartha though. He wasn't saved by a person or even a material object. He was saved by Om, which means "Perfection". He had heard it echoing in the river, and actually, it had terrified him (page 72). Perhaps he was now terrified because he hadn't heard Om in many years, as his spirit had been at slumber for a long while (page 71).
All in all, I'm very glad and relieved to see that Siddhartha was able to make it through his depression and emptiness, and I hope this book continues to take a turn for the better.