Demian

Demian, one of Hesse's major novels, traces the development of Emil Sinclair from his childhood years to late adolescence. Emil boasts of a theft that he has not committed and is blackmailed by a bully. He turns to Max Demian, and in Demian he finds a friend and spiritual mentor who draws him away from a normal home life and teaches him to accept the existence of an alternative world of corruption and evil. Emil's search for fulfilment culminates in his meeting with Max Demian's mother, Frau Eve, symbol and personification of motherhood.

Underlying the narrative theme and characterization is Hesse's penetrating analysis of the self-doubts and conflicting elements in his own nature, which gives this allegory a personal as well as universal validity.