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

internalized and replaced by transformations in the psyche. 39 Relying on the reader's
previous knowledge of Lycaon's transformation, Gallagher maintains that 'Hesse
does not need to incorporate a physical metamorphosis from man to wolf, it is
enough to hint at Haller's wolf-like characteristics and shifts in his behaviour' (337).
Although metamorphosis typically entails a one-way process from one entity or state
to another, 'a one-ness left behind or approached' (Bynum, 30), as in the case of the
double-sided statuette in Die Morgenlandfahrt, Gallagher's could still be classed as an
instance of 'reversible' metamorphosis. 40 Haller's switching from one mental state to
the other, and vice versa, may indeed recall one of Tiresias' metamorphoses in Ovid,
which Ziolkowski describes as 'reversible' (2005, 78). 41 Nonetheless, I incline more to
the view that Haller's represents a case of psychological duality that is hybridism,
rather than metamorphosis. His schizophrenic personality fits perfectly into Bynum's
definition of hybridity (see above); Haller is 'inherently two', and his two opposite
faces co-exist throughout the novel although one may temporarily take the lead.
I suggest that the 'transformations' of Hermine into Hermann, and that of
Mozart into Pablo in 'das magische Theater', are more convincing instances of
metamorphoses in Der Steppenwolf. In both cases, changes are internalised, neither
Hermine nor Mozart undergo any physical alteration. Hermine prompts a process of
recollection in Haller's mind, at the end of which her features fade into those of
Haller's childhood friend, Hermann.
Ja, indem ich jetzt ihr Gesicht genau betrachtete, mufite ich ihr recht geben, es
war ein Knabengesicht. Und als ich mir eine Minute Zeit liefi, begann das
Gesicht zu mir zu sprechen und erinnerte mich an meine eigene Knabenzeit
und an meinen damaligen Freund, der hatte Hermann geheifien. Einen
Augenblick schien sie ganz in diesen Hermann verwandelt. (SW 4,105)
39 'Hesse has moved away from depicting a transformation of the body, instead representing a metamorphosis in
the mind of the subject' (Gallagher, 19).
40 In the last section of Die Morgenlandfahrt, the protagonist H. H. is standing in front of a statuette which he
describes in terms of a wax idol with two opposite faces (H. H.'s and Leo's). This small statue melts down while
H. H.'s contours merge with Leo's: 'Es ging da etwas vor sich, etwas wie ein sehr langsames, sanftes, aber
ununterbrochenes FlieBen oder Schmelzen, und zwar schmolz oder rann es aus meinem Ebenbild in das Bild
Leos hiniiber, und ich erkannte, dass mein Bild im Begriffe war, sich mehr und mehr an Leo hinzugeben und zu
verstromen, ihn zu na'hren und zu starken' (SW 4, 590).
41 Tiresias undergoes a number of changes throughout Ovid's text, and Ziolkowski may refer to Tiresias being
transformed into a woman, after he kills the female of two coupling snakes, and then back into a man when he
kills the male.
128