Literary Analysis Essay on On the Use and Abuse of History for Life

Introduction

In "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life", Nietzsche highlighted the importance and weaknesses of history concluding that it serve the purpose and interests of the living (Nietzsche, 1874). Likewise, Nietzsche (1874) reminds the reader the role that both remembering and forgetting plays in their lives; everyone should value history but not be slaves to it. Additionally, he provides three methods through which history can be taught. They include monumentalism, criticism and antiquarianism. The three methods can be used to analyze historical events. The Holocaust which occurred during World War II was an important historical event for Jews and other marginalized communities (Rosenbaum, 2018). Millions of Jews were murdered by Germany's Nazi soldiers led by Hitler. The soldiers also targeted disabled people, the Roma, gay people and political opponents resulting in many deaths (Nietzsche, 1874). The Holocaust could therefore be explained using monumentalism, criticism and antiquarianism while also maintaining Nietzsche's plea of using history to maintain a contemporary life that is not a slave to historicism.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Monumentalism

People who fail to find inspiration in their daily life often turn to history for motivation and inspiration. As a result, they monumentalize it and use it as a driving force for the good of the community. Monuments are used to proclaim that the human race will be great again and everyone shall excel once more. However, Nietzsche (1874) wonders if the past can be replicated by monumentalizing it. He also considers if greatness could become fashionable again without the past being distorted to create the same effect (Nietzsche, 1874). What is done to relieve the past or recreate and is done to evoke similar effects is simply an attempt to relive the past effects, since it is impossible to duplicate the effects of any cause in history. Therefore, when history is repeated it ends up being destroyed through alterations, distortions and reinterpretations. Nietzsche (1874) describes that monumental history is a costume that people wear when they pretend to hate the powerful and the great of the present time to fulfill a liking for the great and powerful of past times. Monumentalism is therefore a dangerous exercise since if the past is imitated and transformed into something more beautiful, then it can be used as mythic fiction and told to communities that are craving direction and hope (Nietzsche, 1874). Monumentalists are therefore out for war since they believe that their uniqueness is being diluted by other people who do not belong in their community.

The Holocaust was started by Monumentalists. The Jews were considered an inferior race and a threat to the purity of the German race. After many years of Nazi rule in Germany, Adolf Hitler developed a final solution to the Jewish menace. The Holocaust begun during World War II where centers aimed to kill people were constructed in concentration camps in occupied Poland (Rosenbaum, 2018). Anti-Semitism in Europe dates back to the 1870s. Long before the Holocaust, Jews were treated awfully by the Romans who destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and forced them out of Palestine. Hitler and other anti-Semites blamed the Jews for Germany's defeat in 1918 (Rosenbaum, 2018). With that history in mind, Hitler and other Nazi leaders persecuted Jews since they were diluting the German culture. Their actions reinforce Nietzsche's views that Monumentalism is dangerous.

Antiquarianism

Antiquarians just like Monumentalists, look at history through rose-colored glasses. Antiquarians want to preserve the past in a more literal sense rather than use it to produce life. Antiquarians admire the past and want to be part of it. Thus, they are tradition embodied. According to Nietzsche (1874), the best antiquarian way of analyzing history is reserving the simple aspects of life. However, this type of history designed to serve life and ensure its continuity has its disadvantages. When one admires the past and tries to preserve it, he looks back at the past in a restricted field of vision. Likewise, the antiquarian lacks a clear mind and assigns past memories and things the same value therefore, failing to distinguish things and events fairly. Another challenge arises when antiquarians place greater value on the things of the past. As a result, they preserve life instead of generating it (Nietzsche, 1874). Overall, antiquarians' view of history paralyzes the present due to their reluctance to change and to replace history with the new.

Being true antiquarians, Hitler and the Nazi party wanted to preserve anti-Semitism in Europe believing that it is was the ideal way of life. As a result, they murdered many Jews, homosexuals and gypsies during the Holocaust because they believed that they were tainting the pure German race or "Aryan" (Rosenbaum, 2018). Additionally, they blamed the 1918 defeat to the Jews. Wanting to preserve history, racial purity and to ensure spatial expansion, Hitler embarked on a war path, paralyzing the present in a true antiquarian manner.

Criticism

The third approach to history is the critical strategy. According to Nietzsche (1874), everyone should have the ability to break from the past to be able to live in the present. This can be achieved by looking at history critically. Additionally, a generation that considers the past and its ills and virtues prepares the stage for future generations to study the past with a critical view of it to ultimately improve the lives of future generations. The critical approach may appear to be the most pragmatic; however, it has its shortcomings. It is not possible to fully understand and internalize the conditions of the past (Nietzsche, 1874). To that, Nietzsche believes that objectivity and justice are separate from each other thus; one can interpret history based on the most important aspect of the present. As mentioned earlier, when one admires the past and tries to preserve it, he looks back to it in a restricted field of vision. Likewise, the antiquarian lacks a clear mind and assigns past memories and things the same value therefore, failing to distinguish things and events fairly. Another challenge arises when antiquarians place greater value on the things of the past. As a result, they preserve life instead of generating it. Antiquarians' view of history paralyzes the present due to their reluctance to change and to replace history with the new.

In breaking from the past and the evils of the Holocaust, several advancements have been made by various institutions. For example, the Swiss government and its banking institutions have set aside funds to support survivors during Holocaust and other genocide, abuses among other catastrophes (Rosenbaum, 2018). In addition to receiving compensation, the Nuremberg Trials of 1945-1946 were held to punish the perpetrators of the killings (Rosenbaum, 2018). As criticism suggests, present generations should consider the past and set the stage for those coming in the future to learn. 21st century Germany has transformed its views and as a result, paid victims as a way of acknowledging their responsibility in the crimes committed during the Holocaust.

Conclusion

The Holocaust could therefore be explained using Monumentalism, Criticism and Antiquarianism while also maintaining Nietzsche's plea of using history to maintain a contemporary life that is not a slave to historicism. Monuments are used to proclaim that the human race will be great again and everyone shall excel once more. In line with Nietzsche's plea of using history to serve life rather than the past, the critical method must be used in conjunction with the antiquarian and the monumental methods of historiography. He describes the importance and weaknesses of history concluding that history must serve the purpose and interests of the living, and reminds the reader the role that both remembering and forgetting plays in their lives. He provides Monumentalism, Criticism and Antiquarianism as the only methods through which history can be taught. Condemning the past has useful teachings for the present. For example, the Holocaust should never be repeated in the present since millions of Jews were murdered by Germany's Nazi soldiers led by Hitler. It is senseless and unjust to crucify anyone for their religious affiliations. However, as Nietzsche describes, destroying the admirable past do not necessarily make it inescapable. Thus, a conscious effort must be made to be critical of the past and to create a second nature of one and in so doing, escape from the trappings of history.

References

Nietzsche, F. (1874). On the use and abuse of history for life. Untimely Meditations. https://philpapers.org/rec/NIEOTURosenbaum, A. S. (2018). Is the Holocaust unique?: perspectives on comparative genocide. Routledge.