The Enemy Of Man

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Throughout Thus Spoke Zarathustra, there is a constant battle between specific goods and evils. The greatest evil that man will have to face is himself and although he needs to defeat this evil, he must first be prepared. The only way that he will be prepared is by living in society and striving to be the overman. The overman is one who has mastered and practices virtue daily. I agree with Nietzsche that the only way for man to become the overman is to be in society but not of society. The first thing that Zarathustra addresses when he talks about the evils of man is that man is his own worst enemy. He says: But the worst enemy you can encounter will always be you, yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in caves and woods. Lonely one, you are going the way to yourself. And your way leads past yourself and your seven devils. You will be a heretic to yourself and a witch and soothsayer and fool and doubter and unholy one and a villain. You must wish to consume yourself in your own flame: how could you wish to become new unless you had first become ashes (176)! Zarathustra mentions that man’s worst enemy is himself, so he must always be cautious of what he lets himself do. He uses “enemy” to put emphasis on the hostility that there is within man. The “worst enemy” he will ever have to face is himself because of the temptations he must go through in order to be like the overman. Sometimes man cannot be strong enough to ignore and turn away from these temptations. The only man that is exempt is the overman, but man can only strive to be like the overman, for man cannot actually become the overman. If one strives to be like the overman, he will eventually learn to push aside these temptations. Also Zarathustra uses the word “encounter” to describe the way that he will come across these temptations. He will stumble upon them; they will come upon him without a
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