 Cover of the original German edition | |
| Author | Hermann Hesse |
|---|---|
| Original title | Der Steppenwolf |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Autobiographical,novel,existential |
| Publisher | S. Fischer Verlag (Ger) |
Publication date | 1927 |
| Publication place | Switzerland |
| Media type | Print (hardback andpaperback) |
| Pages | 237 |
| ISBN | 0-312-27867-5 |
Steppenwolf (originallyDer Steppenwolf) is the tenthnovel byGerman-Swiss authorHermann Hesse.
Originally published in Germany in 1927, it was first translated into English in 1929. The novel was named after the German name for thesteppe wolf. The story in large part reflects a profound crisis in Hesse's spiritual world during the 1920s.
Steppenwolf was wildly popular and has remained a perpetual success, but Hesse later said the book was largely misunderstood.[1]
In 1924, Hermann Hesse married singer Ruth Wenger. After several weeks, he leftBasel, only returning near the end of the year. Upon his return, he rented a separate apartment, adding to his isolation. After a short trip to Germany with Wenger, Hesse almost completely stopped seeing her. The resulting isolation and inability to make lasting contact with the outside world led to increasing despair and the return of Hesse's suicidal thoughts.
Hesse began writingSteppenwolf in Basel, and finished it inZürich.[citation needed] In 1926, he published a precursor to the book, a collection of poems titledThe Crisis: From Hermann Hesse's Diary. The novel was released in 1927. The first English edition, translated by Basil Creighton, was published in 1929 byMartin Secker in the United Kingdom and byHenry Holt and Company in the United States.
In 1926, Hesse also became acquainted with jazz music, attending Swiss performances of theRevue Nègre featuringJosephine Baker andSidney Bechet; Steven C. Tracy, professor ofAfro-American Studies at theUniversity of Massachusetts, writes, "the character of Pablo... was inspired by Bechet's playing".[2]
The book is presented as a manuscript written by its protagonist, a middle-aged man named Harry Haller, who leaves it to a chance acquaintance, his landlady's nephew. The acquaintance adds a short preface and has the manuscript published. The title of this "real"book-within-the-book isHarry Haller's Records (For Madmen Only).
As the story begins, Harry is beset by reflections on his being ill-suited for the world of everyday, regular people, specifically for frivolous bourgeois society. In his aimless wanderings about the city he encounters a person carrying an advertisement for a magic theatre who gives him a small book,Treatise on the Steppenwolf. This treatise, cited in full in the novel's text as Harry reads it, addresses Harry by name and strikes him as describing himself uncannily. It is a discourse on a man who believes himself to be of two natures: one high, man's spiritual nature, the other low and animalistic, a "wolf of the steppes". This man is entangled in an irresolvable struggle, never content with either nature because he cannot see beyond this self-made concept. The pamphlet gives an explanation of the multifaceted and indefinable nature of every man's soul, but Harry is either unable or unwilling to recognize this. It also discusses his suicidal intentions, describing him as one of the "suicides": people who, deep down, knew they would take their own life one day. But to counter that, it hails his potential to be great, to be one of the "Immortals".
By chance, Harry encounters the man who gave him the book, just as they have both attended a funeral. He inquires about the magic theater, to which the man replies, "Not for everybody." When Harry presses further for information, the man recommends a local dance hall, to Harry's disappointment.
When returning from the funeral, Harry meets a former academic friend with whom he had often discussed Oriental mythology, and who invites Harry to his home. While there, Harry is disgusted by the nationalistic mentality of his friend, who inadvertently criticizes a column Harry wrote. In turn, Harry offends the man and his wife by criticizing the wife's engraving ofGoethe, which Harry feels is too thickly sentimental and insulting to Goethe's true brilliance. This episode confirms to Harry that he is, and will always be, a stranger to his society.
Trying to postpone returning home, where he fears all that awaits him is his own suicide, Harry walks aimlessly around town for most of the night, finally stopping to rest at the dance hall where the man had sent him earlier. He happens upon a young woman, Hermine, who quickly recognizes his desperation. They talk at length; Hermine alternately mocks Harry's self-pity and indulges his explanations of his view of life, to his astonished relief. Hermine promises a second meeting, and gives Harry a reason to live (or at least a substantial excuse to continue living) that he eagerly embraces.
During the next few weeks, Hermine introduces Harry to the indulgences of what he calls the "bourgeois". She teaches him to dance, introduces him to casual drug use, finds him a lover (Maria) and, more importantly, forces him to accept these as legitimate and worthy aspects of a full life.
Hermine also introduces Harry to a mysterious saxophonist, Pablo, who appears to be the opposite of what Harry considers a serious, thoughtful man. After attending a lavish masquerade ball, Pablo brings Harry to his metaphorical "magic theatre", where the concerns and notions that plagued his soul disintegrate as he interacts with the ethereal and phantasmal. At the Magic Theatre he experiences the fantasies that exist in his mind. The Theatre is described as a long, horseshoe-shaped corridor with a mirror on one side and a great number of doors on the other. Harry enters five of these labeled doors, each of which symbolizes a fraction of his life.
Harry appears and kills Hermine with a knife while she lies next to Pablo. Pablo wakes, covers her body with a rug, and exits the room, after which he returns disguised as Mozart to chastise Harry for his attitude in life. Harry realizes that by stabbing Hermine he simply projected his own suicidal desires, recognizes Pablo behind his disguise, and, as the hallucination fades away, Pablo picks up the dead Hermine, transformed into a chess piece, and puts her in his pocket.
In the preface to the novel's 1960 edition, Hesse wrote thatSteppenwolf was "more often and more violently misunderstood" than any of his other books. He felt that his readers focused only on the suffering and despair in Harry Haller's life, thereby missing the possibility of transcendence and healing.[3]
Close friends and longtime readers of Hesse criticized the novel for its perceived immorality in its open depiction of sex and drug use, a criticism that remained the primary rebuke of the novel for many years.[4]
American novelistJack Kerouac dismissed it inBig Sur (1962), though popular interest revived in the 1960s, specifically in the psychedelic movement, because it was seen as a counterculture book and because of its depiction of free love and explicit drug use.
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Hesse's 1928 short story "Harry, the Steppenwolf" forms a companion piece to the novel. It is about a wolf named Harry who is kept in a zoo and entertains crowds by destroying images of German cultural icons such as Goethe and Mozart.
A paragraph in Hesse's 1943 novelThe Glass Bead Game says that "magic theater" is another name of the glass bead game itself.
The nameSteppenwolf has become notable in popular culture for various organizations and establishments.
The novel was adapted into the 1974 filmSteppenwolf. It starredMax von Sydow andDominique Sanda, and was written and directed byFred Haines.
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Media related toThe Steppenwolf at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toSteppenwolf at Wikiquote
The full text ofSteppenwolf at Wikisource