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In Herman Hess’s, Siddhartha, Siddhartha’s constant growth and spiritual evolution is elucidated through the symbolism of the snake, the bird and the river. As a snake sheds it’s skin in order to continue its physical growth, Siddhartha sheds the skins of his past: “ he realized that something had left him, like the old skin a snake sheds/ Something was no longer with him, something that had accompanied him right through his youth …

…easily replenished, so too Siddhartha is rejuvenated after years of wrongdoing. Siddhartha’s transformations, “the shedding” of his false skin, the explorations of the “bird” and the merging with the eternal stream exemplified by the symbolism of the snake, the bird and the river form the foundation of Siddhartha. It was throughout turmoil and experience that Siddhartha achieved his state of nirvana. His constant change evolved him into the product of a religious, well-formed man.