It’s been few months since i finished reading Demian. The reason why i’m writing about it now, is that it took me a while to collect my thoughts about it.
Reading it a first time was easy enough, but it felt like i was glossing over it without fully understanding it. Rereading it a second times helped dissecting the narrative and the deeper meanings.
Demian is a relatively short book, written by the German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse. Hess is heavily influnced by Carl Jung psychoanalysis, in this book he explores an individual search for authenticity, self knowledge and religion.
Demian can be summarized as such:
“ Emil Sinclair, a young boy growing up in Germany who was rised in a middle class home, amidst what was described as the world of light and always made to fear the other world; the world of darkness. Emils’ entire existence can be summarized as a strugle between the two opposite worlds and finally embracing duality.
Sinclair’s life changes when he meets a new classmate named Max Demian, who encourages him to reject conventional morality and embrace his own individuality and eventually awakens into self realization.
Throughout the course of the novel, Emil is caught between good and evil, represented as the light and dark realms.”
Reading a short overview of the story makes sense. And i later on came to realize that Sinclair and Hesse might essentially be the same person, Hesse captres his own struggles through the character development of Sinclair’s. That much is obvious. But, what made me stop and think was when Demian sent Emil a letter with an intersting passage.
“ The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever will be born first must destroy a world. The bird flies to god. That god’s name is Abraxas.”
I remember even after reading it over and over, i still couldn’t fully grasp it.
The bird. Abraxas. These two symbols are mentioned throughout the book, more than the actual tittle.
But, what does it really symbolize? Why does the bird have to destroy the world in order to fly in it?
Essentially, the bird represntes the aspects of Emil that are craving to break free. The egg is where the baby bird grows and develops, symbolizing the ideals and influences that one’s upbringing has instilled in them. In other terms, as we grow we start to form our own opinions and beliefs and this sometimes can clash with what we are supposed to believe inside the egg. The bird wants to fly, but it has to break out of the egg, destroying the only world it’s ever known.
Sinclair’s world was within the light realm. The dark realm seemed frightening. Once he entered the dark realm, he realized the world he lived in was all an illusion keeping him from leaving his cocoon.
And so, Sinclair had to destroy the illusions he had of the dark world in order to achieve understanding and be born spiritually again.
That was the first quote that got my attention, and the fellowing one is my second favourite.
“There are numerous ways in which god can make us lonely and lead us back to ourselves. This was the way he dealt with me at the time…”.
This was when Emil was going throught a crisis, he felt alone in his suffering to break free, alone among his companions.
At the end, Demian: The story of youth is an intersting read, even more so if you want to understand what BTS is referencing in Blood, Sweat & Tears music video.
