Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None

What are the underlying critiques of Christianity? How does Zarathustra represent a movement away from traditional modes of thinking, specifically religious ones? Remember specific biblical references, such as blessing the cup that overflows (3) and viewing the crucifixion as an act of pity (7). 

Hermits are referenced throughout the work and even Zarathustra transitions between isolation and civilization. What does Zarathustra find so important about a life of solitude? Does it have potential pitfalls? Do you believe that solitude is necessary to become a creator of values?

Nietzsche writes, “And you too, for whom life is hectic work and unrest: are you not very weary of life? Are you not very ripe for the sermon of death? All of you who are in love with hectic work and whatever is fast, new, strange—you find it hard to bear yourselves, your diligence is escape and the will to forget yourself” (32). What social commentary is Zarathustra making? Why is the modern person primed to receive the sermon of death? Lastly, why is this sermon detrimental to the coming of the overman?

Analyze instances of personification in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. How does personification help further Zarathustra’s teachings? Given that animals are hierarchically lower than both humans and the overman, why is it that they appear often as examples of virtues and values?

Analyze this quote, “The body is a great reason, a multiplicity with one sense, a war and a peace, one herd and one shepherd. Your small reason, what you call ‘spirit’ is also a tool of your body, my brother, a small work—and plaything of your great reason. ‘I’ you say and are proud of this word. But what is greater is that in which you do not want to believe—your body and its great reason. It does not say I, but does I” (23). How is this passage a critique of the mind/body duality that has dominated Western philosophy? Do you see any other instances of body centricity in Zarathustra’s teachings? 

Think of the times women are referred to in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. What commentary on gender could be extracted from Zarathustra’s teachings? Remember specifically the old woman who gave Zarathustra her treasure and the young woman dancing in the field whom Zarathustra compares to a golden fishing rod. How are these two women similar and how are they different?

After reading the novel, how would you interpret the phrase “God is dead?” How does this assertion help Zarathustra further his philosophy of the overman? What is the connection to values and customs as creations of mankind? Do you agree with Nietzsche? 

Analyze the characters Zarathustra encounters and invites to his cave in Part Four. How are they related to the concept of the overman? Are there remnants of past teachings? Why did they fail to create an overman collectively? Think about competing virtues and Zarathustra’s teachings on the pitfalls of naming one’s virtues.