| The Shins – A Comet Appears Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think that's a really good post, but I disagree with some small parts of it. I don't think our protagonist is writing as an uberman or has fully accepted Nietzsche. The "some uberman I'd make" indicates that it's not quite working for him. And I don't think the "pie in the sky" line really is directed at religion, alone. I don't think it was particularly hard for our protagonist to do away with religion as Nietzsche did. But Nietzsche was very concerned with, after that, avoiding the descent into nihilism. That is what his famous "abyss" quote is about. Nietzsche certainly struggled with the abyss of nihilism, but his philosophy purportedly offers a way out of or around the abyss -- a way to meaning in life or a way to create meaning. But a lot of Nietzsche readers are not convinced. Neither was our protagonist. The meaning that Nietzsche offers is a pie in the sky, too. The protagonist wishes that he could find solace in such a philosophy, that he could be an ubermensch creating meaning, but he is unable. He is unable to escape the numbness of nihilism. The protagonist was never really sold on religion, but now he has realize that its replacements are pies in the sky as well. The "worst part and you know it," the truth, is that life really is crushingly meaningless. We continue on, but we know that in the backs of our minds. |
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