Youth is one of Hesse's major literary themes. (p. 181)

[In his work, there] is one recurring theme, essentially a reiteration of that of Demian, the tortured development of genuine individuality.

According to Hesse, this development, however painful, is the primary responsibility of the adolescent…. "Becoming a personality" means something very specific to the writer, namely, the privilege to feel, act, and think independently of the masses, the obligation to adhere exclusively to the guidance and high demands of one's inner self and the right to encourage the unhampered efflorescence of this self…. The reason why most youths fail to persevere in meeting the challenge of individuation is that they succumb to the strong allure of conformity…. While yielding to mass pressure is one threat to the individual, the opposite extreme, complete withdrawal into a hermetically sealed ego, is, as Hesse implies, equally dangerous. The individual must establish a...