Chaper 7 Summary and Analysis

After the publication of Siddhartha, Hesse continued to write. He wrote Piktor's Metamorphoses in which he clarified Siddhartha in the form of a German fairy tale. He had attained international stature by this time. For a while, his creative work was replaced by reviews and feuilletons. He spent time walking and hiking with Ruth and with her family that summer. He was happy when they invited his friend Hugo Ball to visit.

Hesse worked on many editorial projects that fall but didn't like these projects because of the problems with his eyesight, but they were a source of income. Financial problems created stress which was a cause of his illnesses. The severe German inflation resulted in almost no income. At this time Hesse realized that most of his problems were psychological, although he did not admit this to anyone.

The events...