Demian (Style)

Style

Narrative Voice

Demian is written in the first-person narrative voice. Emil Sinclair is both the narrator and the protagonist of the story. Hesse's choice of first-person narration is central to Demian, because Sinclair is describing his own inward journey toward self-knowledge and the formulation of his personal identity. Critics have noted that Demian does not have a strong or complex plot, because the novel is concerned with a process of self-reflection rather than a series of external events. It has also been noted that Sinclair's recollection of significant childhood events, powerful dreams, and internal struggles resembles the process by which a patient expresses himself to a psychoanalyst.

Setting

Demian is set in Germany during the decade preceding World War I, the early years of the twentieth century. It is interesting to note that Hesse's own youth did not coincide with these events, as he grew up during the final decades of the nineteenth century and was some forty years old at the point in history when his protagonist is about twenty years old. The setting of Demian is significant because Hesse drew a parallel between the historical transformation of Europe and the personal transformation of a youth coming of age. Toward the end of the novel Sinclair discusses the fate of Europe with Demian and his circle of free-thinking friends. He comes to feel that the impending war represents the birth pangs of a new Europe. Although Hesse was opposed to war, he felt that the war was necessary for Germany and all of Europe to be redefined. When the war begins, Demian and Sinclair are swept up in the atmosphere of excitement with which Germans first entered the war. They both become soldiers and are wounded in battle, although Demian dies and Sinclair lives. The setting of the war is significant to the novel in part because the generation of German readers — who felt that Hesse's novel spoke to their own experiences of war and their struggle for personal identity — had experienced combat directly.

Symbolism

Hesse makes strong use of symbolism in Demian. Sinclair describes many vivid and powerful dreams which are symbolic of his own personal struggles. A recurring symbol, which appears in his dreams and is then depicted in his painting, is that of a bird emerging from a giant egg, struggling to free itself from the shell in which it has been contained. This image symbolizes Sinclair's struggle to free himself from the emotional, religious, intellectual, and social restrictions of his family and conventional society. Sinclair sends his painting of the bird to Demian, and is moved when, years later, he finds that it hangs prominently in the house of Demian and his mother, Frau Eva. The personal freedom and self-determination symbolized by the bird's escape from the egg are realized by Sinclair in the company and the home of these two influences. Another recurring symbol is the face he sees in dreams and then paints. Sinclair recognizes the face, but his sense of who it resembles changes. At various points he sees the face as Beatrice, as Demian, and as Frau Eva. Ultimately the face symbolizes Sinclair himself, whose identity incorporates elements of the important people in his life.

Compare & Contrast

• 1871 – 1918: This period of German history is known as the era of the German Empire. In 1871, the German Empire is formed, and under a newly created constitution, the empire is gov erned by an Emperor and two houses.
  1918 – 1933: This period of German history is known as the Weimar Republic. In the aftermath of World War I, Emperor William II is forced to abdicate. In 1918 a newly formed democratic German Republic is proclaimed, under a new constitution calling for a popularly elected president.
  1933 – 1945: This period of German history is known as the era of Nazi Germany or the Third Reich. Hitler rises to power in Germany when he is named chancellor in 1933. During the years of World War II (1939 – 1945) Hitler oversees the murder of some six million Jews (and others) in his Nazi death camps.
  1945 – 1949: In 1945, Germany is defeated in World War II by Allied forces and Hitler commits suicide. From 1945 – 1949, a defeated Germany is occupied by Allied forces.
  1949 – 1989: This period of German history is known as the era of partition. In 1949, Germany is divided into two nations: The German Democratic Republic (East Germany), under Soviet influence, and The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), under Allied influence. In 1961, Soviet forces construct a wall, known as the Berlin Wall, sealing East Germany off from West Germany and the Western World.
  Today: With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the Berlin Wall is brought down. East and West Germany are reunified after some forty years of partition. The reunified nation is named the Federal Republic of Germany.
• 1890 – 1914: During the late 1890s and early 1900s, Germany's economy becomes rapidly in dustrialized, urbanized, and successful. Germany becomes one of the major industrial nations of the world.
• 1914 – 1918: During the latter years of World War I, the German economy suffers. Severe food shortages result in malnutrition and star vation of many citizens. At the war's end, returning soldiers are left jobless and without adequate food supplies.
  1918 – 1923: During the years following World War I, the German economy faces severe setbacks, with massive unemployment and astronomical inflation.
  Today: The reunification of East and West Germany results in economic difficulties for the nation during the 1990s. Before reunification, West Germany had enjoyed prosperity and the most favorable wage rates and labor benefits in the world; however, merging with the economically stagnant former East Germany puts a severe strain on the economy. Other costs associated with reunification continue to weigh down the German economy, although the late 1990s see some economic recovery.
• 1914 – 1918: In World War I, Germany is part of the Central Powers, which include Austria-Hungary and Turkey, is at war with the six nations of the Allies, including Britain, France, and the United States. Germany is defeated by the Allies in World War I.
  1939 – 1945: In World War II, Germany, part of the Axis Powers, is at war with the Allies, which include Britain and the United States. Germany, the initial aggressor in World War II, is defeated by the Allies.
  Today: Germany is a member of the European Union, an organization comprised of most of the nations of Western Europe to facilitate international trade and maintain peaceful international relations throughout Europe. A single European currency is implemented to further create economic cooperation among the nations of the European Community. Germany also belongs to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).