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The Prodigy, originally dating from 1905, is Hermann Hesses's bitter indictment of conventional education. It is the story of Hans Giebenrath, the brilliant young son of provincial bourgeouis in southern Germany who becomes the first boy from his town to pass into a prestigious Protestant theological college. His spirit, however, is systematically broken by his parents and teachers; over anxious about his success, they forget to consider his health and happiness. Subsiding into a fatal apathy, he is taken home for medical reasons. Here he falls in love, becomes an engineer's apprentice, learns to drink alcohol, and eventually dies by drowning. Out of his attitude to the treatment that he perceived was common within the German schooling system at the turn of the century, Hesse developed his own deeply personal views on the value of Eastern education in developing the self.… (more)
Media reviews
Während Hans das Schulsystem durchläuft, fordern die hohen akademischen Anforderungen ihren Tribut an seinem geistigen und körperlichen Wohlbefinden. Der Roman untersucht die zerstörerischen Auswirkungen überzogener Erwartungen und des unerbittlichen Strebens nach akademischem Erfolg. Hans wird zunehmend isoliert und von seinen eigenen Wünschen und Gefühlen abgekoppelt.
Am Ende nimmt die Geschichte eine tragische Wendung, als Hans dem Druck erliegt und zusammenbricht. Der Roman wirft wichtige Fragen über das Wesen der Bildung, gesellschaftliche Erwartungen und die Auswirkungen starrer Systeme auf die Psyche des Einzelnen auf. "Beneath the Wheel" gilt als Kritik am Bildungssystem und als Reflexion über die Kosten des gesellschaftlichen Drucks auf das Streben des Einzelnen nach Selbstfindung und Selbstverwirklichung.
User reviews
While the writing style is low key, I recognise the malaise that still afflicts us today, how the "system" can break you down unless you know how to play ir, or unless you rebel.
Rebellion, however, is not normally encouraged..
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 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.
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.