Summary Following the Treatise on the Steppenwolf, the next section of text includes an encounter with one of Steppenwolf’s former acquaintances. After reading the treatise, Steppenwolf despairs over the two portraits of himself — a self-portrait portrayed in verse, and the self-portrait provided by the treatise. He decides to commit […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Harry Haller’s Records: Encounter with the professorSummary and Analysis Treatise on the Steppenwolf””
Summary The point of view changes from first person to third person within the treatise. The treatise begins much like a short story: “There once was a man, Harry, called the Steppenwolf.” Steppenwolf is shocked when he reads the first line, for he believes he is reading about himself. The […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Treatise on the Steppenwolf””Summary and Analysis Harry Haller’s Records: For Madmen Only””
Summary From this point on, Haller will be referred to as Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf’s personal records and entries compose the rest of the text. Although the book does not contain formal chapter divisions, it can be divided into three parts: the initial records, “Treatise on the Steppenwolf,” and the final records. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Harry Haller’s Records: For Madmen Only””Summary and Analysis Preface
Summary A preface generally provides a short introduction to a book, and it’s usually written by the author. The Preface to Steppenwolf does this and much more. It’s more accurate to say that the Preface is the key to understanding the text. Hesse provided a short introductory note to the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PrefaceCharacter List
Harry Haller The protagonist who also refers to himself as the Steppenwolf. He is suicidal because he cannot completely separate himself from bourgeois society. He discovers the Magic Theater and the “Treatise on the Steppenwolf” and begins a journey of self-discovery. The Nephew The narrator in “The Preface.” The nephew […]
Read more Character ListAbout Steppenwolf
Hermann Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf addresses division within the self and society, and the effects such divisions can have on an individual, such as loneliness, self-mutilation, and possible suicide. The novel is constructed from a manuscript that the principal character, Harry Haller, or Steppenwolf, leaves behind at a boarding house. The […]
Read more About SteppenwolfBook Summary
Steppenwolf begins with a preface narrated by the nephew. The nephew meets Harry Haller, or Steppenwolf, when he rents rooms at the aunt’s boarding house. The nephew dislikes Steppenwolf immediately because he seems shy, unsociable, and snobbish. The nephew admits that he grows to like Steppenwolf after spending time with […]
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