Cyclical Structure of Narcissus & Goldmund by Herman Hess :: Goldmund Herman Hess

circular Structure of Narcissus and Goldmund Narcissus & Goldmund, by Herman Hess, contains a distinct cyclical structure. This structure is contributed to through and through characters, themes, ideas, times, and places. Each of these elements facilitate the development of an organized, creative work, delving deep into the human soulfulness to reveal that both Narcissus and Goldmund atomic number 18 players in the same game. There are three separate round of golfs present in the novel. The graduation cycle occurs during the first year or two after Goldmund has left Mariabronn. It concludes with Goldmund witnessing a cleaning lady giving birth. He sees in her face the face of all of the women he has ever been with, and this connection between get along and birth purges him of the sterile warmheartedness he felt for Lydia. Characters in this cycle, almost exclusively women, are seen as objects. They are erotic, sensual, and physical, but nothing else. They have no dimension be yond that of a sexual outlet for Goldmunds blind passions. There is an photograph of a transience present in the set out-world, manifested in Goldmunds legion(predicate) relationships. This is demonstrated most clearly through Lise, when, after she and Goldmund make love together, returns to her home for the night. This happens with other characters as well, most of them having husbands to return to, and Goldmund feels pain because of this knowledge. solely of the meetings between Goldmund and his lovers occur at night, and bears a strong relationship with nature, specifically, animals, trees, and plants. As the cycle continues, Goldmund experiences death as well as life, demonstrated by his killing Victor over a gold coin. Ideas presented within this cycle include the need for commitment. As Goldmund was before a spring lover, he is now a hunted murderer, but he does not at this point in the novel, realize that death, equated with the season of winter, are elements of the mothe r world. The fleck cycle beings after Goldmund witnesses the woman giving birth. In this cycle, Goldmund sees death and decay, and the looker present in each. From Niklaus statue, Goldmund begins to see the blending of beauty and pain, and he decides to act on the world of art, under Niklaus. Goldmund sees in art a blending of the mother and father world. The characters Goldmund comes in contact in this cycle give a definite image of pain and death. This is exemplified in the plague scene, wherein Goldmund comes to terms with death, and understands how it transcends, as art does, the mother and father worlds.