Ubermensch, the Superman, and who he really is - Essay Example

he demonstrates in his work Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche’s idea of superman held that he was a man of ordinary means and stature with an extraordinary commitment to his own definition of the world. As is communicated through the many small individual sermons Zarathustra delivers to those people interested in learning, Nietzsche conceived of the overman as an individual who was capable of removing himself from the group mind by ignoring the common moralities and religious teachings to develop his own morals and values.

As a result of his beliefs, he is always redefining himself, but taking joy and serenity in the knowledge that it is up to him how to define what is good and bad in each situation. While Nietzsche’s idea of the overman was an individual who held himself aloof from the activities and thought of normal men, Bernard Shaw felt the role of the superman was to also provide assistance to his fellow man as is shown in his play Man and Superman. He agreed with Nietzsche that the superman was an individual capable of removing themselves from the group-speak of the common world to attain higher thoughts and ideals but felt responsible for bringing the rest of humanity up to his own level.

While the hero is strong in his own will, he is capable of recognizing the greater needs of the world around him and applies practical means of accomplishing the necessary goal. Another significant difference found in Shaw is in his inclusion of the woman as an important element in the development of the Superman. By pursuing the life force and stabilizing the home, Shaw indicated that women were essential if a man was to transcend to superman. Ayn Rand seems to conform more closely with the ideas of Nietzsche in her depiction of the superman in her novel Atlas Shrugged.

Again portrayed as otherwise ordinary, Rand depicts the superman as an individual who is capable of higher forms of reasoning and logic. The goal of mankind to reach this height through