Study Like a Boss
Quotations and Analysis He went on two legs, wore clothes and was a human being, but nevertheless he was in reality a wolf of the Steppes. He had learned a good deal . . . and was a fairly clever fellow. What he had not learned, however, was this: to find contentment in himself and his … Read more
First published in Germany in 1927 and translated into English in 1929, Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf has endured a fairly harsh mix of critical receptions. First criticized as immoral for its open depictions of sex and drug use, these judgements eased as cultural norms began to change by the 1960s. Later critics criticized the novel for being too … Read more
Herman Hesse’s 1927 novel, Steppenwolf¸ in many ways expresses the profound doubts and conflicts Hesse went through at the time that he was writing the novel. The book explores the idea that all people have within them multiple and conflicting aspects of their nature. In Steppenwolf, the protagonist seems to be made of two main character types, … Read more
Themes Identity Harry sees himself as comprised of two exclusive selves. He is the wolf who longs to be alone and free of societal constraints. Yet he is torn by his other half which identifies with tame bourgeois society. While he longs to break free of culture, he is drawn to culture. His drive for … Read more
Characters and Analysis Harry Haller, or The Steppenwolf A reclusive middle-aged man. He resents all things bourgeois but nevertheless lives in a distinctly bourgeois boarding house. He refers to himself as Steppenwolf because he believes he is a man of two distinct natures: the lone wolf who rejects society and lives a life of solitary … Read more
The novel opens with a preface allegedly written by the nephew. In this he tells us how he hcame to meet Harry Haller, or Steppenwolf, when Harry rented a room in the boarding house owned by his aunt. He tells us that he did not at first like Steppenwolf, but came to like him over time. … Read more