Analysis Of Steppenwolf Disease Essay, Research Paper
Steppenwolf
The disease in Steppenwolf is a disease that, as stated in the book, .affects not only the weak and the worthless but also the strongest in spirit and the richest in gifts. . This disease is loneliness. Some would not call this a disease, they would call it a feeling. It, in fact, really is a disease affecting the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a person, and in this case Harry Haller, or the Steppenwolf.
This disease, which affects the innermost parts of a person s soul, has affected Mr. Haller for quite some time. Loneliness can change a person greatly and, if in large enough quantities over a long period of time, can destroy a person, even drive them to suicide. This is what happens to Mr. Haller. His loneliness has eaten away at him for so many years that he has lost sight of the happiness in life. He is no longer able to enjoy life to it s fullest potential because he will not let himself do so. He has no one and, at times, he feels that life is not worth living. This disease of loneliness has brought him to the point of suicide, brought him to the edge of existence. He is at the point of suicide when he meets his treatment and his cure. Companionship and love.
That is the only help for this most debilitating of diseases, companionship and love. One will help but only both together will be able to cure him of his wretched mental sickness. His cure happens to come in the form of a beautiful young woman named Hermine. She is his treatment and his cure, but whether he allows her to help him is up to himself.
Hermine shows Mr. Haller all he has become. She brings his disease to the surface in all it s pain and does so rather bluntly, openly criticizing all that he says and does. Mr. Haller responds to her rather well and begins to like her more and more. She has already begun to help him even though he has no idea that she is doing so.
She helps Mr. Haller in many different ways. Firstly, she gives him the companionship that he so dearly needs. She does tell him though, that this companionship will end in time, but only when he is in love with her. At that time she wants him to kill her. This comes as a shock to Mr. Haller at first but later on he realizes that he, in some unknown way, knew that this would come and that it would be an obstacle he would have to overcome.
She also helps him overcome his disease by making him more social with other people. She introduces him to many new people, two of them though help Mr. Haller the most through his many problems. The first person to help him is Maria. Maria is a beautiful young woman who Hermine has set Mr. Haller up with. She offers Mr. Haller love and companionship but not real love, the feelings he has for her are purely sexual and his real feelings rest with Hermine, although he may not know.
The other person that helps Mr. Haller is Pablo. He meets Pablo through Hermine and he becomes a friend of sorts to him. He helps him through many things but not as much as Hermine. Nobody helps Mr. Haller as much as Hermine.
Hermine has now began the treatment of Mr. Haller. She has provided the companionship and he is now on the road to recovery from his disease. Mr. Haller finally falls in love with Hermine though, at a costume ball that they are to meet at.
Mr. Haller goes to the costume ball expecting to find Hermine rather easily, but to his utter disappointment he is not able to. He looks all over the ball but she is nowhere to be found. Just as he is about to leave though, he receives a note that contains her whereabouts. He immediately proceeds to this place and again, tries to find her. After a quick look at the room the only person that stands out in his mind is a young man sitting at the bar, and it is that man who is Hermine, dressed in a disguise fit to fool anybody. They proceed to dance the night away, not with each other, but with other people. Later on though Hermine disappears for a time and he cannot find her. She then reappears dressed as a woman again and they are able to dance together. He has now fallen in love with her.
Now you may think that Mr. Haller has been cured. He has received the two things that are needed to cure loneliness, but that is not true. After the ball, Pablo, attempts to help him become fully cured of his disease but only succeeds in destroying Mr. Haller further.
What follows in the book is far too hard to explain. It must be read to be understood, needless to say though, Pablo s attempt at curing Mr. Haller falls far short of it s goal. Pablo s cure is to send Mr. Haller through a funhouse of sorts, a funhouse that pokes fun at the mind and makes one become much less serious about the real world. Mr. Haller though, is far too serious for this make believe world and he soon shatters it by killing a so called reflection of Hermine. Even though it is a reflection it still shows him that he has not come very far and it returns him to his depressed stupor, he now feels that all life is over once again.
Now the third question is, has this disease of loneliness been cured? The answer to this would be a definite no. Mr. Haller may have come a long way throughout the story but he is far from being cured. He may have received the two things needed to be saved but he still is not cured. This is proven by the fact that he killed Hermine, even though he had not yet been asked to plunge the knife in he did it anyway. When he killed her he had lost the companionship and the love that she had given him and almost cured him with. He was now back to square one, right back to where he had started. He is again depressed and he will never be able to love again, he will always be lonely, always cursed to be a wolf of the Steppes.
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