Demian Herman Hesse's novel Demian tells of a young boy named Emil Sinclair and his childhood growing up before the First World War. Emil struggles to find his new self-knowledge in the immoral world and is caught between good and evil, which is represented as the realms of light and darkness. Hesse uses very symbolic diction in his novel to give a more powerful presentation of Emil Sinclair and the conflict between right and wrong. Symbolism gives direction, foreshadowing, and meaning to every aspect of the novel. Emil Sinclair's house as a child is a very important symbol in the novel. While Emil attends school he is shown worldly immoral worth. Confusion about what is right and wrong creates the need for a safe haven for Emil. Emil refers to his home as a kingdom of light and states that he and his family all belong to that kingdom. The house itself was once a monastery, giving it a more powerful representation of the realm of light. This symbolic asylum represents Emil's innocence within himself and distances him from the real world. Another safe haven that Emil retreats to is after finding himself as a member of the Mark of Cain. Eve's garden symbolizes the Garden of Eden (a religious setting therefore of the realm of light) and Emil separates himself there as one with the mark of Cain separated from the rest of the corrupt world. Both settings symbolize Emil's importance in the world as well as his destiny. The Garden of Eden presents itself as another symbolic place. The event where Emil told the story of stealing the apples from the garden was a very symbolic moment in the novel where Emil turns away from his kingdom of light. The garden from which Emil stole the apples represented the Garden of Eden, and the apples, or forbidden fruit, symbolized Emil's first sin. This event foreshadows what will happen in the conflict between good and evil. Emil's first step out of the realm of light gives way to more symbolic events in which he delves deeper into the dark realm. At the beginning of the novel, Emil notices that above his house there is a coat of arms representing the religion of Cain. The coat of arms contained a sparrowhawk bird on it. Hesse uses this symbolic approach to give the sparrowhawk a purpose in the rest of the story, as a symbol of the mark of Cain. Emil discovered that the bird represents the god Abraxas. From this point, Emil is determined to find the meaning of the bird and Abraxas. After the rain washed away a painting of Beatrice painted by Emil, Emil could see himself and Demian in the canvas. Emil then painted an image of the sparrowhawk on the same canvas. Hesse used this event to symbolize the connection between Emil, Demian, and Abraxas. After bringing these characters together as one, Hesse was able to finish Emil's transformation in the New World. Emil sees the bird again above the corridor of Frau Eva's house. The bird in Eve's hallway symbolized her house as Cain's house. Now Emil has found himself and knows that his place is there. Emil sees the bird outside again in the form of clouds in the rainy sky. This clearly shows that the rest of the Old World is ready for transformation into the New World. In the last scenes of the novel, Emil is on the battlefields of the First World War. One night Emil looks up to the sky and sees an image of a vast village of people being swallowed up by a divine figure who resembles Eve. The figure then crouches down and gives birth to the people who are now bright, shining stars. This is the most important symbolic event in Hesse's novel. The divine figure symbolizes Eve, being the leader of the Cain people. The people who were swallowed by the divine figure symbolize the people of the.