is, in effect, a retrospective of Knecht's life, because he has been long dead by the time the book begins. The stages of his life, then, are clearly delineated, including his awakening to the fact that remaining in the elitist and insulated environment of Castalia will not fulfill him or employ all his talents to serve. Haller, on the other hand, is almost entirely self-absorbed throughout Steppenwolf, reflecting the greater simplicity of that novel and of its protagonist's experiences. Haller emerges from the novel with not so much a philosophy as a new attitude, whereas Knecht's death, or final awakening, is the culmination of an orderly progression through clear stages of philosophical but especially spiritual development. On the other hand, both protagonists emerge with very similarly humanistic perspectives, based on an opening outward to others rather than a closing in from others in a retreat of fear or abandonment of human society as hopelessly co
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