Jude the Obscure Essay

According to philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, piety is a falsehood. The implications of the death of God communicate by Nietzsche are portrayed through the characters and the plot itself of the novel Jude the mixed written by Thomas Hardy. Nietzsche believes that religion has castd and distorted the take account of legality, the influence of morality, and the need for worship, leading people trim down a street of wandering. The master(prenominal) character in the novel, Jude, experiences many troubles throughout his life, which stem from uncertainty of his beliefs and relishs. faith seems to be the light Jude should follow, but it is actually an illusion, which leads to a falsehood of lawfulness and meaning, morality, and the church. Friedrich Nietzsche believes that everything that made sense with God no longer exists and religion has lead to the death of truth and meaning. This is a common theme in Jude the Obscure. passim the book, Hardy displays the feeling that rel igion is something that people use to satisfy themselves by giving their lives meaning. This is apparent in the main character Jude, who is an orphan invariably prying to give himself an identity.Jude gravitates towards people or places hoping to give his life meaning. His family with Mr. Phillotson led him to follow a religious lane, believing it will assist him add meaning to his life. Jude is illustrated as a wanderer, similar to those who are on the path of religion, wandering from place to place to find work and searching for his own identity. Hardy uses this allusion to convey that a religious path does not provide superstar true destination, but rather it leaves people wandering. The image of morality and distinguishing between what is good and evil often causes angst and anxiety among people. righteousness shapes a battle of guilt and uncertainty. Throughout the novel, Jude is battling with his religious settings and his deepest desires, wanting to be religious like his mentor but also fulfill his desire to stay with serve. The guilt Jude felt about his longing to be with Sue led him to leave the church. These feelings of guilt caused Jude to move away from the Church and stag God, as he states, The Church is no more to me (Hardy 237). Religion produced a falsehood of emotions that only left Jude dissatisfied with his thoughts and actions.Religion forms an image of an getatable precedent world, but this ideal vision rejects reality. Within the novel, Jude sees in Christminster an attainable, ideal world, similar to the one people see in the Church, heaven. Hardy uses biblical references that lead readers to make a connection between the Church and Christminster. Jude sees Christminster as the city of the light and a place he had likened to the new capital of Israel (Hardy 22). Jude sees Christminster as a place where he desires to fulfill his hopes and dreams, but this terrific world exists only in Judes imagination.Jude runs to religio n to escape his problems and what he had hoped to achieve in Christminster was unfulfilled. His love, Sue, left him for the one who brought him to religion, and he was not judge to any of the colleges he had desired to attend. Like Hardy, Nietzsche explains that religion and the church create a false illusion of the world, which is actually filled with many letdowns. When religion is gone and God is dead, all that is left is the love we have for one another and ourselves. Judes tribulations throughout the novel are linked to his knowledgeable battle of emotions towards religion and his desires.Religion is a falsehood that leads to wandering down a path towards an unattainable ideal world. Religion creates one value of truth, but according to Nietzsche and Hardy, there isnt one single truth and it is impossible to judge the values and correctness of one group. The judgment and craft Jude felt in the novel led him down a path of unhappiness and emptiness. Judes realization at the e nd of the novel correlates with Nietzsche view on religion one must choose his own path because when God is dead, all that is left is the individual perspective on reality.