How Does Zarathustra Kill God?: A Rhetorical Analysis of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra

Abstract

‘God is dead’ is a statement that has always been associated with Nietzsche’s Zarathustra even though he was not Nietzsche’s original spokes person. So this research focuses on how Zarathustra says what he says that he ends up not only with the credit of declaring God’s death but is also able to persuade the world that God is indeed dead. This dissertation employs rhetorical analysis to meet these research aims. By observing what Zarathustra says and how he says it, this research comes to the conclusion that even though Zarathustra is not the one to declare God’s death, he is the first person to accept it. With his acceptance and insistence upon God’s demise, he kills God. With his celebration of God’s death as good riddance, he kills God. With his roaring laughter a tour ass-worshipping, he kills God. And thus, Nietzsche is able to persuade his audience about God’s death by whispering his message into Zarathustra’s ears which when finds Zarathustra’s voice, sounds like a thunder.