Thus Spoke Zarathustra · Chapter
XLII: Redemption explained
Zarathustra is confronted by a hunchback and other cripples who demand physical healing as proof of his teachings.
What happens
Zarathustra is confronted by a hunchback and other cripples who demand physical healing as proof of his teachings. He responds by describing 'reversed cripples'—those who have too much of one thing and too little of everything else—and laments that humanity itself is fragmented, a collection of broken pieces and limbs. He then turns to his disciples and delivers a profound discourse on redemption: the Will, though an emancipator, is itself imprisoned by the past ('It was'), and its revenge against time is the source of suffering. True redemption lies in the creative Will that transforms every 'It was' into 'Thus would I have it,' a teaching that points toward the Will to Power and the overcoming of the spirit of revenge.
Themes in this chapter
Will to Power and Creation
Zarathustra teaches that the Will is a creator, and redemption comes from transforming 'It was' into 'Thus would I have it,' a direct expression of the Will to Power.
Eternal Recurrence
The discourse on the Will's imprisonment by time and the need to will backwards alludes to the eternal recurrence and the overcoming of revenge.
Critique of Herd Morality
Zarathustra rejects the people's demand for physical healing and their concept of 'great men,' instead critiquing the fragmented, herd-like condition of humanity.
Characters to notice
- Zarathustra
Speaks with the hunchback and cripples, then delivers a deep teaching on redemption, the Will, and the transformation of the past.
- The Higher Men
Implied as the disciples to whom Zarathustra addresses his discourse on redemption and the Will.
- The Ugliest Man
Not directly present, but the theme of reversed cripples and fragmented humanity resonates with his character.
- The Soothsayer
Not directly present, but the discussion of madness and eternal recurrence echoes the soothsayer's earlier prophecies.
Key passages
“To redeem what is past, and to transform every 'It was' into 'Thus would I have it!'—that only do I call redemption!”
True redemption is not about undoing the past, but about the creative will reinterpreting and affirming it as something one would have chosen.
Central definition of redemption in the chapter.
“The Will itself is still a prisoner. Willing emancipateth: but what is that called which still putteth the emancipator in chains? 'It was': thus is the Will’s teeth-gnashing and lonesomest tribulation called.”
The will, which frees us, is itself trapped by the unchangeable past, causing it to gnash its teeth in frustration.
Key insight into the Will's limitation and the source of revenge.
“I walk amongst men as the fragments of the future: that future which I contemplate. And it is all my poetisation and aspiration to compose and collect into unity what is fragment and riddle and fearful chance.”
Zarathustra sees himself as a shaper of the future, gathering the broken pieces of humanity into a unified whole.
Expresses Zarathustra's role as a creator and redeemer of chance.