youthful Emil Sinclair recognizes that life consists of opposing forces; however, his older friend Max Demian manages to both clarify and complicate Sinclair's confused thoughts about life's conflicting values. Popular with young adults since it was first published in 1919, this brilliant psychological portrait of a troubled young man's exploration of the duality of human nature has retained its remarkable power as a poignant statement of the terrors and torments of adolescence.