liberationHarry Haller is a sad and lonely figure, a reclusive intellectual for whom life holds no joy.

A very convoluted tale and not easy to describe briefly. The main character (Harry) believes that within him lives the man and also the wolf. What he does not realize is the duality of his conflict is the man and the woman (Hermine) that lives within him.

He struggles to reconcile the wild primeval wolf and the rational man within himself without surrendering to the bourgeois values he despises. His life changes dramatically when he meets a woman who is his opposite,

the carefree and elusive Hermine. The tale of the Steppenwolf culminates in the surreal Magic Theater—For Madmen Only!

Hermine is willing to die when Harry becomes the strong male that he must bring forth.