Nietzsche's 'The Madman'

In “The Madman,” Nietzsche describes a man going into a town, speaking about his beliefs, and being derided for doing so. However, with further analysis of several elements of the story, a deeper meaning behind the passage becomes clear. Nietzsche argues, through the madman, that morals cannot exist without God. It is important to know that, as a parable, the passage contains symbols, is not intended to be interpreted entirely literally. One of these symbols, God, is used to represent morality, and is the first element that must be examined in order to understand the passage. The second element to be examined is the madman’s belief that humans have killed God. The implications of this belief are the third element that needs to be examined in order to fully understand the meaning of this passage.
In the passage, God is used as a symbol. What the madman calls God represents not God as a living thing, but the Christian conception of morality as a whole. For example, when the madman says that “God is dead,” he is saying that morality does not exist. To the madman, God and morality are practically synonymous. The madman also uses a metaphor to compare God, and thus morality, to a sun, which the world revolves around.
Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Do we not dash on unceasingly? Backwards, sideways, forwards, in all directions? Is there still an above and below?
These questions indicate that the madman believes that the townspeople have released themselves from God, and thus have no morals to guide them. To further this comparison, Nietzsche, through the madman, invokes a parallel between the ideas of “above” and “below,” and the ideas of “good” and “evil.” Without a direction to orient them, nothing can be above or below. Likewise, without God, nothing can be good or evil. This idea of the nearly interchangeable nature of God and morality persists throughout the