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The Cry of Distress
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Rethinking Morality
The Superman and the Will to Power
Death of God and Christianity
Eternal Recurrence
Summary
Analysis
After wandering through the forest for an hour, Zarathustra comes upon two kings driving a donkey before them. He hides behind a bush and wonders aloud about them. The kings stop and speculate about the voice they’ve heard—they figure it’s the voice of a goatherd or hermit, who would no doubt be better company than the masses among whom they live. They are fleeing the mob out of disgust, tired of disguising themselves in the pomp of their forebears.
The kings (who probably don’t symbolize any specific rulers) are higher than the average people of the day, because they recognize that they aren’t what they could be. (They dress in traditional garments passed down to them, but these outward trappings obscure their own failings.)
Themes
Zarathustra emerges from his hiding place and introduces himself. He asks the two kings what they are doing in his domain—have they found the Higher Man whom he is seeking? Delighted, the kings admit that they have been searching for Zarathustra ever since his enemies showed them his devilish image in a mirror. They were intimidated by him, yet they were attracted by his “warlike” words and came in search of him. Zarathustra sends the kings back to his cave so that he can respond to another cry he hears.
Earlier in the book, Zarathustra was distressed by a prophetic dream in which his disciples taught a distorted version of his teachings. Yet it turns out that even this distorted teaching was effective in drawing receptive people toward Zarathustra, suggesting that the existence of the will to power in people is more important than the leaders they follow.
Themes
