At the onset of chapter six, Emil Sinclair is a young man of eighteen. Because of the teachings of Pistorius, he has learned a great deal about self-acceptance and self-reliance, as well as about human nature in a more universal sense. With Pistorius, Sinclair has been very open, sharing his […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 6 – Jacob Wrestling

One day, shortly after mailing the painting, during a break between classes, Sinclair notices a note tucked into one of his books. Recognizing that the note is folded in a special manner peculiar to his classmates, he does not immediately open it. During his next lesson, while obviously “daydreaming,” Sinclair […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 5 – The Bird Fights Its Way Out of the Egg

At the boarding school, Sinclair soon finds himself an outsider, as Demian was previously viewed at the Latin school. He is at first neither liked nor respected by his classmates. His adolescent awkwardness has even caused him to dislike himself. Agonizingly alone, Sinclair soon finds the road to his much […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 4 – Beatrice

The title of the third chapter is once again a biblical allusion, which, once again, Demian will treat as a myth and interpret as he pleases. In this recurring practice, Demian reflects Hesse’s own views. Hesse, as he stated in 1930, believed that biblical myths were useless unless they could […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 3 – Among Thieves

At the beginning of the second chapter, Emil informs the reader that his “salvation” came from an entirely unexpected source. The key word here is “salvation.” A new student, Max Demian, who is several years older than Sinclair, has enrolled at the Latin school. Demian is obviously an outsider. He […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 2 – Cain

Demian begins through the narration of the main character, Emil Sinclair, concerning his youth as of 1904 or 1905. The entire novel depicts ten years’ activity, which takes us up to his involvement as a German soldier in World War I, at which point Sinclair is twenty years old. It […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 1 – Two Realms

Emil Sinclair The youthful protagonist of the novel who, in the course of ten years, falls from childhood innocence, suffers great anguish in his search for self understanding, and finally achieves the awareness for which he has been striving. Max Demian A youth several years older than Sinclair who acts […]

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Published in 1919, Demian is a crucial novel to an understanding of Hermann Hesse. Demian, whose title came to Hesse in a dream, is the direct outgrowth of his psychoanalysis of 1916-17. It marks a new direction in both the tone and message of his works. Dr. Timothy Leary has […]

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