The Autobiographies in Hermann Hesse's Glasperlenspiel

The abrupt and tragic end to the life of Josef Knecht in Hermann Hesse's Glasperlenspiel has given rise to various interpretations by numerous scholars regarding its significance. It is not my purpose to add another interpretation to the many excellent ones already published.1 There is, however, one aspect of Glasperlenspiel which merits more than the rather cursory treatment it has received and which may contribute to a fuller appreciation of the fate of the central figure, Josef Knecht. I shall concern myself with the three Lebenslaufe appended to the main narrative and, through an analysis of the motifs in them, attempt to clarify their relationship to the work as a whole, including their relevance to the untimely death of Josef Knecht

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