HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ...

individuationis—accepting his limited individuality and separate identity. In the
fictitious reality of the novel, Pablo is alive and a lowly person who, despite the
limitations of his earthly perspective, is able to catch glimpses of the eternity
bestowed on exceptional individuals like Mozart and Goethe, who are dead and
Immortals.
As a consequence, immortality is not only a dimension of the afterlife
bestowed upon exceptionally gifted artists, but it is also open to those who are 'ready
to plumb the very depths of the potentialities of [their] life' (Ziolkowski 1965, 212). 91
Goethe and Mozart in De.r Steppenwolf are immortal not so much because of their
majestic artistic talent as for their being men who, like Pablo (and Vasudeva in
Siddhartho), have discovered that contradictions, in the long term, fade away, and
opposites, on deeper inspection, reveal their unity.92
3.5 Whistling and dancing
In the previous section (see note 89), we hinted at the juxtaposition of 'die Orgel',
emblematic of the highest musical spirituality, and the small flute (Flotchen) which is
a symbol of instinctive, sensuous musicality in Das Glasperlenspiel. While 'die Orgel'
points us towards eternal values and timelessness, the flute stresses our belonging to
'Diesseits' and, by implication, to time. As symbols, the organ and the flute, like
Mozart and Pablo, capture one of Hesse's fundamental antitheses: the contrast
between intellectualism and naivety (see Chapter 1, section 5). A joyful and
ingenuous approach to music, which complements the appreciation of sophisticated
compositions, is a common poetic element in Hesse's works.93 This element often
91 In relation to the Immortals, Stewart points out that '[i]t is their lives which are models for us, not only their
works' (93), and Ziolkowski stresses that the pairing of Mozart and Pablo also entails the unification of the
fleeting and the eternal: 'Mozart and Pablo are only two aspects of the same person (just like Narziss and
Goldmund in Hesse's next novel): between the two of them they represent a complete union of the poles of spirit
and nature, of life and the eternal' (1965, 222).
92 'Unity' is a feeling accessible to all human beings regardless of their intellectual achievements: 'it might be
possible for ordinary mortals to "create" their own lives and identities anew, embracing both self and world in
one, accepting all that life offers as of equal value and potentially part of their experience, of themselves'
(Stewart, 91).
93 Hermann Lauscher's dilettantism is an early instance of an instinctive, unskilled approach to music: 'Ich
wurde keineswegs zum Geiger erzogen, mein Lehrer war sogar ein Dilettant, daher war der Unterricht mir ein
Vergnttgen und zielte weniger auf strenge Ubung und Prazision als auf baldiges Etwaskonnen' (SW 1, 240).
98