This analysis of the ideal of Heimat in Hesse's Demian Siddhartha and Steppenwolf is a
significant contribution to Hesse scholarship as well as a fascinating re-evaluation of the
culture-bound concept of Heimat itself. Kiryakakis shows how the three novels form a trilogy
with each successive hero expanding upon and benefitting from the experiences of his precursor
and draws parallels between the novels and Hesse's own tenuous relationship to his Heimat.
Using both textual and biographical analysis he examines the three novels within the framework
of a continuum which reflects various developmental stages in the heros' search for the lost
ideal of Heimat. Thus he shows how ultimately the trilogy not only depicts the development of
an individual but epitomizes the very nature of twentieth-century existence.
