Beneath the Wheel
 |
| Author | Hermann Hesse |
|---|---|
| Original title | Unterm Rad |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | S. Fisherman |
Publication date | 1906 |
| Publication place | Germany |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 192 pp |
| ISBN | NA Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Beneath the Wheel (Unterm Rad) is a 1906 novel written by Hermann Hesse. It is also sometimes titled The Prodigy in English.
Plot summary
Beneath the Wheel is the story of Hans Giebenrath, a talented boy sent to an elite seminary in Maulbronn. However his education is focused on increasing his knowledge and neglects his development as a person. He get a best friend Heinrich Heilner -who is less hard-working than him and more liberal-, this friendship is a relief for Hans. In the end, Heilner is expelled from the seminary, and Giebenrath is sent home after his performance decreases when he shows symptoms of mental illness.
Back home, he finds coping with his situation difficult, as he has lost most of his childhood to scholastic study, and thus never had time to form lasting personal relationships with anyone in his village. He is apprenticed as a blacksmith and seems to enjoy the work; concrete, as opposed to the abstraction of scholarly work. However, he never fully adjusts to his new situation. Going out in a neighbouring village, he and his colleagues get drunk. Giebenrath leaves the group to walk home early. Later, he is found to have drowned in a river. Ambiguity rests over whether the death was accidental or suicide.
Beneath the Wheel is one of Hesse's first novels and severely criticises education that focuses only on students' academic performance. In that respect, the novel is typical of Hesse. There are biographical elements in the story, as he attended and was expelled from the seminary described.
See also
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