A Narratological Analysis of Mood, Voice and Tense in Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

Abstract

In this study, a narratological investigation of Hermann Hesse's novel Siddartha is executed by applying Gerard Genette's narrative structure theory. This study is the analysis of the narrative structure of Siddartha with Genette's three narrative dimensions namely voice, mood, and tense. This qualitative research explores Hesse's genius in handling the narrative form. In the novel, Siddhartha's voice which denotes "Who speaks" is an authoritative heterodiegetic third-person unknown narrator. The subjective narrator made use of past and future tense in the narration. The novel Siddhartha follows a chronological order without any flashbacks or flashforward. The journey protagonist Siddhartha is chased from youth to old age. The dimension that received the most importance is focalization which is perceived as internal focalization as the the point of view is shared by both the narrator and character in the novel. The discussion includes issues such as finding the exact duration of the events. The overall outer appearance shows that the duration of the novel is summary. A pause also occurred to increase the intensity of the situation. It is concluded that Hesse's novel is an impressive piece of writing that uses the narrative structure to increase the reader's understanding. Genette's theory illustrates how this analysis enriches the knowledge of the novel Siddhartha.