The East can be seen as a geographical location or as a variety of metaphors for a lofty goal: “Our goal was not only the East, or rather the East was not only a country and something geographical, but it was the home and youth of the soul, it was everywhere and nowhere, it was the union of all times” (26).Its status as an actual location is difficult to sustain. Facing eastward and beginning to walk is not a guarantee of eventually reaching concepts such as the “youth of the soul” or arriving “everywhere and nowhere” (26). When viewed in light of the author’s beliefs, it is more likely that he is using the Journey to the East to illustrate a lifelong journey.

Hesse was deeply invested in Eastern mysticism and Buddhism, and most of H.H.’s descriptions of traveling to the East can be read as the path to enlightenment. Every step on the Journey can be viewed through the lens of another day lived in pursuit of a contemplative, meditative life. Because the mind is not required to live in the present, it is possible for one voyaging through contemplation visit different periods, to see fictional characters, to visit with the deceased, and so on.