Beneath the Wheel

It’s been a long time since I read “Beneath the Wheel” but I recall it fondly. Hesse captures the stormy nature of youth and the difficulty of growing up and retaining one’s individuality in light of a society and a school system which force conformity and crush the spirit. These forces existed in 1906 Germany and of course still exist today, albeit in different forms. The writing is clear, engaging, and rings of truth – undoubtedly because of Hesse’s own difficulties in adolescence, which included getting expelled from the seminary described in the book.

Quotes:
On education and youth; shades of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”:
“What would many happy citizens and trustworthy officials have become but unruly, stormy innovators show more and dreamers of useless dreams, if not for the effort of their schools? In young beings there is something wild, ungovernable, uncultured which first has to be tamed. It is like a dangerous flame that has to be controlled or it will destroy. Natural man is unpredictable, opaque, dangerous, like a torrent cascading out of uncharted mountains. At the start, his soul is a jungle without paths or order. And, like a jungle, it must first be cleared and its growth thwarted. Thus it is the school’s task to subdue and control man with force and make him a useful member of society…”

“Teachers dread nothing so much as unusual characteristics in precocious boys during the initial stages of their adolescence. A certain streak of genius makes an ominous impression on them, for there exists a deep gulf between genius and the teaching profession. Anyone with a touch of genius seems to his teachers a freak from the very first.”

“Thus the struggle between rule and spirit repeats itself year after year from school to school. The authorities go to infinite pains to nip the few profound or more valuable intellects in the bud. And time and again the ones who are detested by their teachers and frequently punished, the runaways and those expelled, are the ones who afterwards add to society’s treasure. But some – and who knows how many? - waste away with quiet obstinacy and finally go under.”

On melancholia:
“Hans could think of no reason why that evening came back to him now, nor why its memory was so overpoweringly beautiful, nor why it made him feel so miserably sad. He did not realize that his childhood took on this shape and dress once more before departing from him, leaving only the sting of a happiness that would never return.”

On youth, coming of age, and desire:
“From that moment on he hardly said another word and avoided her gaze. However, as soon as she looked away, he stared at her with a mixture of unfamiliar desire and bad conscience. In this hour something broke inside him and a new, alien but enticing land with distant blue shores opened up before his soul. He did not know or could only guess what the apprehension and sweet agony signified, and did not know which was stronger, pain or desire.
But the desire signified the victory of his adolescent vigor and sensuality and the first intimation of the mighty forces of life, and the pain signified that the morning peace had been broken, that his soul had left that childhood land which can never be found again. His small fragile ship had barely escaped a near disaster; now it entered a region of new storms and uncharted depths through which even the best-led adolescent cannot find a trustworthy guide. He must find his own way and be his own savior.” show less

In Beneath the Wheel, Hesse creates a portrait of a life brought to devastation by the negative effects of institutionalized learning. The apex of this devastation is beautifully rendered with the rich imagery anchored in nature and melancholy that is typical of his writing. Though a good novel, it falls short of Hesse's best work. Themes that merely incubate here are executed with far greater depth in Narcissus and Goldmund, as well as in The Glass Bead Game. Having read those works, this novel provided good context for Hesse's development as a storyteller.

Hesse's lyrical yet uncomplicated language (even in translation) provides a sensitive and beautiful examination of nature's triumphant reclamation of a failed academic. A heartbreaking and humane study of archetypes set against a brilliantly rendered landscape, this is a dark and gentle story inviting patience and reflection. Excellent.

Young Hans Giebenrath is a gifted child. When the state tests show him to have the second highest score in the country, he earns entrance to a monastery school and becomes the pride of his small farm town. It also earns him a short vacation, which he plans to spend fishing and walking in the beautiful forests. But each day finds his time being taken up by different tutors who wish him to study so he’ll be ahead of the other students when classes begin. Soon all the hours of his day are used up and his leisure is gone.

At the highly regimented school, he has trouble fitting in. He is no longer special like he was in his village. He lacks social skills, so when one of the students, a flamboyant poet, befriends him, he finds himself show more giddily obsessed and his studies suffer. Eventually he has a breakdown and falls so far behind he is sent home. This is a permanent banishment; no student sent home ever comes back. Suddenly, for the first time, he is at loose ends; there are no lessons to learn, books to read, or tests to prepare for. For the first time, he actually has choices. Can Hans learn to live happily without a highly structured life?

While this book was written in 1906, I see the same thing still happening to gifted kids today (and regular kids whose parents want them to be gifted); they are given so many classes and structured activities that they have no time for play, socialization, or imagination. While most survive it okay, I can’t believe it’s the best way to raise a child. show less

It is worth reading this alongside Hesse's collection of short stories gathered under the title 'Autobiographical Writings'. Hesse's real academic career was quite a train-wreck, and his recollection of the very short conversation he had with his rather severe Grandfather about it is priceless. On another note, I'm not sure I've ever read such a powerful description of life becoming (slipping into) death; all the more effective for the obliquity and the unexpectedness of the moment. What's more, with just a very few words Hesse captures that strange fleeting period preceding the arrival of news of a death. When I worked with traffic police years ago they would talk about how in the middle of the night they'd find themselves carrying but show more not yet delivering the news of a death, and the sense that for a little while someone still slept in their beds undisturbed; their loved ones, children, partners or parents both still alive and dead at the same time. This isn't perhaps Hesse's major work, but there is a beautiful light touch to the writing, a sense of restrained power in this story simply told. Recommended. show less

Hans Giebenrath, son of a respectable but unexceptional father, is a "prodigy". Fast tracked - for the glory of his school, family and town- to the intensive hothouse of a theological college, he realises what he is missing. His innocent youthful pursuits- fishing, keeping rabbits- have all been curtailed so he can devote himself to his Greek and Latin. Friendships are firmly quashed if thosse friends are deemed unsuitable.
Hans slides into a depression for which, it seems, thee is no cure. How can such a sdand-out student join the lower echelons of society?
Superb.

I first read this as I was finishing high school, and reading it now after quitting a gig in corporate America, it’s hitting in similar ways. Really strong and clear message. It’s obviously about the education system, but easy to apply to my current situation and general disdain towards conventional success in the workplace.