文档介绍：ffs Notes on Demian ? 1974 1 HESSE'S DEMIAN Notes including ? Life and Background of the Author ? Introduction to the Novel ? List of Characters ? mentaries ? Character Analyses ? Essay Topics and Review Questions ? Selected Bibliography by Bruce L. Marcoon, . Upper Darby Senior High School LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 68501 1-800-228-4078 N 0-8220-7266-1 ? Copyright 1974 by Cliffs Notes , Inc . All Rights Reserved ffs Notes on Demian ? 1974 2 LIFE AND BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR Hermann Hesse was born in the little south German village of Calw on July 2, 1877. Situated on the edge of the Black Forest, Calw was to e the colorful setting of much of Hesse's writing. Hesse was the son of Johannes Hesse, who had been a missionary for the Lutheran Pietists to India. Forced to return to Europe after a short stay in India, Johannes worked in, and helped establish, a religious publishing house in Calw. Hermann's maternal grandfather, Hermann Gundert, also spent a major portion of his life as a missionary in India, acquiring a huge library of books about Eastern thought and ing a master of Indic languages. As a child, Hesse was greatly subjected to religious influences, both to the narrower views of Protestantism and to the wider scope of the Eastern religions and philosophies. Both views never left him; they became an integral part of his thought. His house in Calw was frequently the scene of visitations from foreigners, ranging from Buddhists to Americans. At his disposal was his grandfather's rich library. Hesse himself much later stated that all of his writing was religious in nature, not in the orthodox sense, but in a larger, universal way. It was established early that Hesse would e a theological student. While showing intellectual promise as a student, young Hesse disliked school, especially the rigidity and the stifling of creativity of the German educational system of his time. His grades were never outstanding, and he disliked his teachers. He once stated that he had had