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Polar Opposites In Hermann Hesse's Novels, Karen Lea Nead

Masters Theses

The object of this thesis is to show how Hermann Hesse utilizes polar opposites and to show how the integration of conflicting forces works in the lives of the fictional characters in Demian, Steppenwolf, Narcissus and Goldmund, and The Glass Bead Game. These four novels not only are representative of the progression of the individual, but together, they are a consecutive representation of the artist's own search for a unified self. Influenced by psychologist Carl Jung's theories regarding the process of development, Hesse portrays the protagonists in constant search of the self. Some of the characters …