Goldmund’s Awakening and Departure

Narcissus and Goldmund

Goldmund’s attempt to fulfill his father’s monastic plan gives way to the maternal memories and sensual nature that send him into the world.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Son Entrusted A Son Entrusted from "Narcissus and Goldmund". A Son Entrusted A Chosen Vocation Goldmund’s father places him in Mariabronn, expecting him to become a monk and atone for his mother’s supposed sins.

A Son Entrusted from "Narcissus and Goldmund". A Son Entrusted A Chosen Vocation Goldmund’s father places him in Mariabronn, expecting him to become a monk and atone for his mother’s supposed sins.

A Son Entrusted A Chosen Vocation Goldmund’s father places him in Mariabronn, expecting him to become a monk and atone for his mother’s supposed sins. Goldmund initially accepts this imposed future as his own calling. A New Attachment The cloister welcomes the boy, but his curiosity and emotional responsiveness already exceed the narrow role planned for him.

Two Conflicting Models Two Conflicting Models from "Narcissus and Goldmund". Two Conflicting Models The Abbot and the Scholar Goldmund admires Abbot Daniel’s humble kindness and Narcissus’s commanding intellect.

Two Conflicting Models from "Narcissus and Goldmund". Two Conflicting Models The Abbot and the Scholar Goldmund admires Abbot Daniel’s humble kindness and Narcissus’s commanding intellect.

Two Conflicting Models The Abbot and the Scholar Goldmund admires Abbot Daniel’s humble kindness and Narcissus’s commanding intellect. He tries to become both, though their forms of life cannot be combined by imitation. The Cost of Division His divided striving becomes visible in fatigue, daydreaming, and sudden anger. Narcissus recognizes that Goldmund’s distress has deeper roots than poor study habits.

The Mother Returns The Mother Returns from "Narcissus and Goldmund". The Mother Returns A Buried Memory Narcissus’s words bring Goldmund’s mother back from the obscurity created by his father’s account of her.

The Mother Returns from "Narcissus and Goldmund". The Mother Returns A Buried Memory Narcissus’s words bring Goldmund’s mother back from the obscurity created by his father’s account of her.

The Mother Returns A Buried Memory Narcissus’s words bring Goldmund’s mother back from the obscurity created by his father’s account of her. The recovered memory overturns the guilt that had supported Goldmund’s intended vocation. A Changed Direction Goldmund begins to understand that his desires and imagination belong to a different path. The cloister can no longer serve as the unquestioned answer to his life.

The First Call of Desire The First Call of Desire from "Narcissus and Goldmund". The First Call of Desire A Forbidden Visit Goldmund joins classmates on a secret trip to the village and is kissed by a girl with dark braids.

The First Call of Desire from "Narcissus and Goldmund". The First Call of Desire A Forbidden Visit Goldmund joins classmates on a secret trip to the village and is kissed by a girl with dark braids.

The First Call of Desire A Forbidden Visit Goldmund joins classmates on a secret trip to the village and is kissed by a girl with dark braids. The encounter awakens desire, but his inherited belief in sin turns it into a private crisis. Friendship as Shelter His collapse in class brings Narcissus close enough to become a friend. That bond gives Goldmund a safe place to approach the experience he cannot yet understand.

Leaving for the World Leaving for the World from "Narcissus and Goldmund". Leaving for the World An Embodied Message Lise’s tenderness makes Goldmund feel that life itself has called him beyond the cloister.

Leaving for the World from "Narcissus and Goldmund". Leaving for the World An Embodied Message Lise’s tenderness makes Goldmund feel that life itself has called him beyond the cloister.

Leaving for the World An Embodied Message Lise’s tenderness makes Goldmund feel that life itself has called him beyond the cloister. He experiences desire not as a theoretical transgression but as a new form of knowledge. A Difficult Farewell He leaves without permission, while Narcissus accepts that holding him back would betray the work of their friendship. Goldmund enters the world without a fixed destination.

At the beginning, when Goldmund arrives at Mariabronn

During Goldmund’s first year at Mariabronn

After Narcissus confronts him about his forgotten childhood

In spring, after Goldmund has studied at Mariabronn for over a year

On the night Goldmund meets Lise in the fields