Tom Brennan Speech Analysis

The concept of transformation and self overcoming are potent topics, the likes of which, are and have been heavily debated by the best academics known to humanity. The statement of a human requiring help from others to excel through pressing events is highly equivocal. The latter can be achieved by turning to the right support and resources in order to vanquish one’s negative circumstances, annihilate the pressures of society, and develop a unique and personal set of values. However, contrary to this, depending on the situation there may be no choice but to rely on oneself for support. These concepts are explored in “The Story of Tom Brennan” by J. C. Burke, and Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”. The characters, Tom and Zarathustra, …show more content…
Purposeful rejection of someone from a society can be detrimental to an individual, and will usually either suffer emotional damage and submit to pressure, or transcend discrimination and flourish. Nietzsche uses his character Zarathustra to depict his concept of transcending communal outcasting through the use of the simple metaphor “Become who you are!”. Nietzsche’s straightforward statement shows his passion of “breaking the shackles” in order to release people from a conformist and cruel society. Thus, portraying to the responder the deeper message of striving to vanquish external influences, and develop oneself. This causes the responder to become empowered by what they are reading, and understand that it is entirely possible to beat negative circumstances. Nietzsche’s idea of self overcoming is expertly portrayed by Burke in “The Story of Tom Brennan”. Specifically, it is the idea of surpassing one’s previous limits to adapt during times of oppression, which is evident in the high modality sentence “That was the morning Tom Brennan came back forever”.The high modality in “forever” indicates Tom’s belief that he has obtained a new mindset, by conquering his archaic frame of mind over the period in which he and his family were outcast by their hometown. Hence, the effect on the audience is one of encouragement and reassurance of Tom’s changed demeanor, resulting from the negative experience. These two excerpts of text coexist inasmuch that Nietzsche's metaphorical advice is seemingly proven by Tom’s experience. It definitively proves that both Tom and Zarathustra were able to grow within themselves, as a result of not only turning to yourself, but to others if need