Published Paper Details:

Juxtaposing literary works and psychological theories is one of the methods to assess the merit of any literary work. More than the merits, at times, this method is also employed to unearth the social, cultural, aesthetic and psychological aspects of the literary work at hand. Herman Hesse's Siddhartha bears a lot of psychological dimensions. The different facets of the protagonist's life can only be perceived by careful consideration of what is working inside his psyche. Analytical Psychology directs us towards a deeper understanding about the protagonist's deportment beyond the surface level of understanding. It leads us to a more intricate pattern of human behavior. Jung's theory offers an array of terminologies that can explicate intentional and unintentional acts. Collective unconscious is the central idea of Jungian psychology. It is considered as the reservoir of archetypes and universal symbols shared by all humanity. The protagonist in Siddhartha also comes across with various archetypal figures and symbols which mirrors his own mind and the collective unconscious. At times, the psychic forces are on a collision course, resulting a confused mixture of emotions. The spiritual quest in the novel is often disturbed by the shadow archetype of the protagonist. An insight can be gained from the mundane and spiritual quests of the life of the character by employing various postulates of Analytical Psychology. This paper tries to enquire justifications of human actions by taking Hesse's Siddhartha as specimen and placing it onto the plane of Analytical Psychology.