Chapter 1, pgs. 37-56 Summary and Analysis

Hermann felt the divided world in which he grew up. On his mother's and grandfather's side, there was India while on his father's side, there was Germany. Hermann seems to have inherited the disposition for mental illness from his father who was hospitalized in 1889. Hermann gradually rejects his family's values as he grows up. He was determined to succeed as an artist because of his brother Theodor's failure as one. Hermann decides that he wants to be a writer at the age of thirteen.

The Hesse's had groomed Hermann for the seminary. He passed his examinations and began his studies in Maulbronn in 1891. He began running away from the school after the first few months which he later portrays in his novel, Beneath the Wheel. This novel presents his views on official education and the desire to...