Steppenwolf (Metaphor)
This is the main metaphor with a very deep meaning. The metaphorical idea of the division oneself personality into several parts is used by author. First we met Steppenwolf on pages of the Treatise: “There was once a man, Harry, called the Steppenwolf. He went on two legs, wore clothes and was a human being, but nevertheless he was in reality a wolf of the Steppes”. If we consider two parts of the personality of Haller – the human part will be responsible for all the good, while the wolf is a part of instinct and absurd desires. Moreover, the protagonist is lost, because he is torn between these two selves. Hesse used this metaphor to show us the problems of the human soul that have always been and will be relevant
The quenched sun (Metaphor)
The protagonist worries a lot after Hermine's request has been done. So, after her death, he understood that he had killed the love of all his life, but he was hesitating if it was good and right or bad to follow her words. The first question he asked himself after that was “Had I quenched the sun? Had I stopped the heart of all life?”. The thing he means is the importance of Hermine in his life, because when she has gone even the sun ceased to shine.
The roar (Metaphor)
Harry Haller is visiting a dance hall, where everything is so bright and noisy. For him it was pleasure to dance, but, unexpectedly, the main goal was to have a rest or even to sleep. As we can imagine, sleeping in such a place was not an easy task: “Obediently I shut my eyes, leaned my head against the wall and heard the roar of a hundred mingled noises surge around me and smiled at the idea of sleep in such a place.”
Great spirits (Simile)
"Like all great spirits, Herr von Goethe, you have clearly recognised and felt the riddle and the hopelessness of human life…” Under phrase 'great spirits' the author means all the famous and prominent characters, as Goethe, Mozart, Beethoven and so on. They are great because of their giant contribution to the modern world, and they are ‘spirits’ because of two reasons: the first is more general - today, they exist only in our memory and their artistic heritage, and the second – they are important allegorical images in the book.
