44 pages 1 hour read

Hermann Hesse

Demian

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1919

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Chapter 8Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 8 Summary: “The Beginning of the End”

Sinclair spends his summer semester with Demian and Eve, and he feels at peace with life. He worries about having to leave them at the end of the summer and return to his parents’ home, but he discovers comfort in his love for Eve. However, he feels a wave of dark energy and feelings overcome him, and he tries to summon Eve.

Demian tells him that he is a lieutenant in the army and will have to go to war against Russia. Demian also reveals that he knows that Sinclair attempted to summon either him or Eve, and he tells Sinclair that he knows about his love for Eve. Sinclair goes to see Eve, and she tells him that he is to call on those with the mark when he needs their assistance.

Soon, Demian leaves to go to war, and Sinclair enlists shortly after. During one of his stations as a guard, he remembers Eve and Demian. He sees an image of Eve in the sky with the mark of Cain on her forehead. He calls her a “goddess,” and stars from her mark come shooting at Sinclair. He is wounded during the war, and he lies in a barn.