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Of the Virtue that Makes Small
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
Winter is an unwelcome guest in Zarathustra’s house, so he flees to the sunny “mount of olives,” where he can be joyful even in winter. He doesn’t worship a “fire-idol,” like the weak—he’d rather suffer a little in the cold than participate in idol-worship. Zarathustra has learned to conceal his “inflexible sun-will” in winter. Indeed, the truly profound cannot have their clearest depths disturbed—and if Zarathustra didn’t obscure his happiness, others could not endure it. Meanwhile, he warms himself on the mount of olives.
This chapter portrays Zarathustra as a solitary—a state in which he finds joy and contentment, no matter the incomprehension of the outside world. He suggests that the “fire-idol” is a falsely warming faith in God. Zarathustra, in contrast, needs only his will to keep him warm.
Themes
