A Summary Of Hermann Hesse’s Demian

Kathryn Byrnes Winter 1998

Demian is the story of a boy, Emil Sinclair, and his search for himself. Emil was raised in a good traditional

home at the turn of the century in the young nation of Germany. His family is rather wealthy and they have a As a boy, Sinclair

reputation as an upright, godly family.

views the world within the walls of his home as representing all that is good, pure, innocent, and godly. But starting

at a young age he feels a constant inner conflict between this world, which he refers to as the “world of light” and the outside world, or “forbidden realm” which represents sin, lonliness, deceit, and insecurity. And although his

mother, father, and two sisters remain within the “world of light”, he constantly feels drawn to the outside realm and is in this way somewhat estranged from his family and their sphere of security. He ends up vacillating between both

and not belonging to either. This struggle between Sinclair’s two worlds manifests itself when Sinclair is about 10 years old. While playing

one day with some fellow schoolmates, an older boy, Franz Kromer, joins them. In an effort to impress the older boy

and his schoolmates, Sinclair makes up a story in which he and another unnamed accomplice stole a bag of apples from a fellow neighbor. Although the story is untrue, Kromer

threatens Sinclair with exposure if Sinclair does not pay him off. Unable to pay the full amount, Sinclair is forced

to become Kromer’s slave, ultimately sending Sinclair into depression and paranoia. Sinclair feels trapped by Kromer,

forced to live within the “forbidden realm”, which in turn exiles him from the “world of light” because he has defiled himself by lying and committing sinful acts for Kromer. This experience is traumatic for Sinclair and he is often haunted by nightmares, he is unable to eat, and he becomes withdrawn and sullen. His personality alters as he tries to cope with