advertisement

Compare 2 Books The Raven Boys and Siddhartha

     The theme of Siddhartha is about looking both inward and outward to find the meaning in your soul and in life. This theme in Siddhartha is very similar to the theme in the novel, The Raven Boys. In the novel, a character named Gansey is also searching for meaning in his life. The main character in the book is very similar to Siddhartha. Both of the characters grew up in wealth and privilege. Both characters look for more meaning in their privileged lives. They both look for something that they did not already possess that money cannot buy. 

     Gansey’s goal was to find a supernatural being near his school. Siddhartha's goal is to find enlightenment in his life. Both characters are very similar in that they are obsessed with these goals, and nothing else in their life seems to matter, including their own comforts. Gansey lives in a cold warehouse surrounded by filth and dust. Siddhartha lives with the wandering group of philosophers surrounded by disease and death. In both of the books the author never really explains why they need these things. 

     Most people would be happy with their wealthy, comfortable lives. Both characters have something internal inside of them that makes them go down this path and leave everything else behind. Gansey surrounds himself with people he can trust and they help him with this search. Siddhartha takes a very different path, and although his friend goes with him on the wandering trip, he is generally alone in the book. Siddhartha has to find his own way inside of his own mind.