Quote by Hermann Hesse, Demian, 1918

Now everything changed. My childhood world was breaking apart around me. My parents eyed me with a certain embarrassment. My sisters had become strangers to me. A disenchantment falsified and blunted my usual feelings and joys: the garden lacked fragrance, the woods held no attraction for me, the world stood around me like a clearance sale of last year's secondhand goods, insipid, all its charm gone. Books were so much paper, music a grating noise. That is the way leaves fall around a tree in autumn, a tree unaware of the rain running down its sides, of the sun or the frost, and of life gradually retreating inward. The tree does not die. It waits.

Now everything changed. My childhood world was breaking apar

Summary

This quote poetically conveys the profound sense of disillusionment and disconnection experienced by the narrator. With the change in their familial dynamics, everything around them loses its vitality and meaning. Their once cherished experiences and relationships now feel empty and insignificant. The use of nature imagery, particularly the comparison to autumn and a dormant tree, evokes a sense of waiting and resignation. Despite the turmoil, the narrator does not give up on life but rather endures, patiently anticipating a shift or revival. This quote captures the desolation and resilience amidst personal upheaval.

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By Hermann Hesse, Demian, 1918

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