Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf, originally published in German in 1927, then translated into English in 1929, is the eighth novel published by Swiss German novelist Hermann Hesse. The novel was commercially successful upon publication, and it remains a popular novel to the present day. However, Hesse remarked that whereas his intention was to find humor in life and resist despair, Steppenwolf has often been misunderstood as a glorification of suffering. Much of Hesse’s body of work addresses spiritual and existential issues of modernity and suffering, including Siddhartha, published one year before Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is a Modernist novel, making use of distortions of time, interior monologue, and explorations of the psyche to illustrate the human experience in text. Despite its popularity, it did not receive any awards, and Hesse was criticized for his depictions of drug use and open sexuality.

Steppenwolf follows Henry “Harry” Haller, a man approaching 50 years of age, as he explores the perceived internal conflict between two sides of himself. One side is a bourgeois man of taste, and the other is a wolf of the Steppes, which has wandered into modern society and does not fit in. These sides create a dynamic in Haller that causes him to withdraw from society and himself, developing a loathing for both. As Haller navigates this conflict, the novel explores themes of Overcoming Alienation, The Search for Spiritual and Psychological Fulfillment, and Bourgeois Norms and the Repression of the Unconscious.

This guide uses the Bantam Books 1970 printing of the 1929 edition of the text, translated by Basil Creighton and revised by Joseph Mileck and Horst Frenz.

Content Warning: This novel contains depictions of suicidal ideation, violence, and drug use.

Plot Summary

An unnamed narrator, the nephew of a landlady, discusses his first impressions of Henry Haller. Haller is approaching 50 years old, and he is renting a room in the narrator’s aunt’s home. The narrator sees Haller as reserved, quiet, and intelligent, and he recounts seeing Haller moved by music. The narrator firmly believes Haller is still alive, and he describes finding the following novel in Haller’s room after Haller leaves.

Haller’s writings detail his perception of himself as the Steppenwolf, a wolf of the Steppes, which has wandered into human society. Half of Haller is a bourgeois man who loves poetry, music, and culture, while the other half is a wolf who hates society, restriction, and etiquette. Haller deals with suicidal ideation, as he feels his life is only filled with suffering. He sees a woman on occasion, Erica, but they do not get along. Haller drinks heavily, and, one night, he sees an illuminated sign advertising a Magic Theater “for madmen only.” A man in the street gives Haller a treatise, but Haller cannot stop the man to ask him more questions.

The treatise is about the Steppenwolf, and it describes Haller’s life and personality with shocking accuracy. However, the treatise makes fun of Haller’s despair and the title of “Steppenwolf.” According to the treatise, people are made up of many souls and selves, and Haller’s division of himself into “man” and “wolf” is ridiculous. Instead of despair, the treatise suggests that Haller needs to find humor in his criticisms of himself and society. Haller enjoys the treatise, and he wonders how much of it is true. He is offended that the treatise does not respect his suffering, though, which he clings to as legitimate.

The next day, Haller goes to a funeral and finds the man who gave him the treatise. The man largely ignores Haller, but he tells Haller to go to a specific bar for entertainment. After the funeral, Haller runs into a professor friend, who invites Haller for dinner. Dinner is awkward, and Haller conceals the fact that he is the author of an anti-war article which the professor ridicules. Haller criticizes a portrait of Goethe hanging in the professor’s house, calling it arrogant. The professor’s wife leaves angrily, and the professor asks Haller to leave, as well. From the professor’s house, Haller considers going home to end his own life, but he finds himself at the bar the man from the funeral recommended.

At the bar, Haller meets Hermine, a young woman who looks like Haller’s childhood friend Herman. Hermine takes an interest in Haller, commanding him to eat, drink, and dance. Haller says he cannot dance, as he never learned, and Hermine is shocked. Haller takes a nap, after which Hermine leaves, but they make plans to meet the following Tuesday. Haller is excited by Hermine, and he wonders how meeting her will change his life. When they meet, Hermine insists that Haller learn to dance. She tells Haller that they are the same kind of person, and they will help each other. Hermine will teach Haller to enjoy life through dance and socialization, and Haller will kill Hermine after he falls in love with her. Haller agrees, and they purchase a gramophone, though Haller hates modern technology and music.

Haller learns to dance easily, and he and Hermine dance in public without issue. Haller dances with a woman named Maria, and Hermine suspects Haller loves Maria. Haller meets Hermine and Maria’s friend Pablo, who is pleasant and talented as a musician, but Pablo does not speak to Haller. One day, Maria is in Haller’s bed, and Haller realizes Hermine sent Maria as a gift for him. Haller and Maria begin a sexual relationship, Pablo and Haller grow closer, and Hermine completes her dance lessons with Haller. All four characters begin preparing for the Fancy Dress Ball, where Haller can officially enter modern, popular society.

Before the ball, Haller drinks at his old bar, reminiscing about his sad life, then he attends a film at the cinema, remarking again on his hatred of modern technology. At the ball, Haller is welcomed by all, but he cannot find Hermine or Maria. After losing his coat, Haller receives word that Hermine is at the ball, and he finds her dressed as his friend Herman. They both dance with several women, until Hermine changes into feminine clothing. Haller realizes he is in love with Hermine. They dance together until morning, at which point Pablo invites them to the Magic Theater. Pablo gives Haller and Maria drugs, which he says will allow them to revive and enjoy the theater.

The Theater is a hallway of doors, and Pablo shows Haller his own reflection. Haller does not like his reflection, but it splits into thousands of different people, representing the facets of his different selves. The doors are labelled with varied adventures, and Haller spends some time behind one door fighting a war against machines. In another door, Haller finds a chess player, who takes the fragmented selves of Haller’s psyche to make chess pieces for magical games. After chess, Haller watches himself tame the Steppenwolf, then he sees himself tamed by the Steppenwolf. Another door allows Haller to relive all the romances of his life, exploring what could have happened with different men and women he met. Finally, Haller is ready to kill Hermine.

Finding Hermine nude with Pablo, Haller stabs her in the heart. Pablo smiles, and Mozart appears and constructs a radio. Haller is shocked by the radio, which he considers antithetical to Mozart, and Mozart tells Haller to laugh at absurdity. Haller does not laugh, and Mozart criticizes him for killing Hermine. A court appears and convicts Haller killing “the reflection of a girl with a knife” and not laughing about it (245). Haller is sentenced to leave the Theater for 12 hours and to live forever. Mozart turns into Pablo, turns Hermine into a chess piece, and scolds Haller for failing in his confrontation with his own mind. Haller feels invigorated and wants to try again to capture the humor of absurdity.