Chapter 8 Summary and Analysis

Steppenwolf, published in 1927, is the only work of his which is set entirely in a modern city. The city represents a symbol of what was happening internally with Hesse. It showed the collective neurosis which individuals experienced, and he used a symbolic city to represent this. Hesse spent New Year's Eve with Ruth in Zurich, even though he considered the marriage ended. He was very productive in early 1926 while he was in Zurich.

Steppenwolf, like other works of Hesse, mirrors the relationship between his craft and his life. Hesse's writing was his way of managing his psychological crises. It was his way of trying to seek stability. At this time Hesse began attending masked balls and found they helped him to overcome his depressions. He portrays these scenes in Steppenwolf and also in the poems he wrote at the time. These...