4. Kaiyue L. - “No Longer Human” - Individuality in a Collective Society

"No Longer Human" is a semi-autobiography revolving Osamu Dazai's tragic life, in this book he introduces himself as a man named Yōzō. The novel is separated into three portions in the form of "journals", Yōzō's youth, his college years, and his adult years. 

 These are my absolute favorite lines from the book, ‘All I feel are the assaults of apprehension and terror at the thought that I am the only one who is entirely unlike the rest. It is almost impossible for me to converse with other people. What should I talk about, how should I say it? – I Don’t know.‘ The more I think about this book and Yōzō, the more I find myself resonating with him. Of course, my life is not nearly as bad as his, but there have been times I’ve questioned the true nature of humans, why some people are the way they are, and felt like I have to put on a mask and “clown” in order to fit into a mini-society I call school. I relate how he feels when he says that he can’t reveal his genuine self to others, his fear of being alone, and him trying to justify other people’s wrongdoing by blaming it on himself. 

 Dazai's work exhibits the dark aspect of modernizing and its effects on our society. His feelings that he is a disqualified human being, or that he is no longer human, is driven by his sensitivity to the frailness of human bonds in the urban cities. I think Dazai wanted people to understand how debilitating depression is. You’re sucked into this vortex where nothing makes sense and nothing is meant to make sense. You deeply understand that life has no meaning but without the optimism that you can generate a meaning yourself, as cliche as it sounds. And this feeling is compounded by loneliness because no one wants to be associated with someone who’s in a state of negativity every minute of the day. 

 Even though it is unspoken, Dazai's greatest desire is to make a genuine human connection. But, even if Dazai does unearth such relationships, his own insecurities and the lack of social experience caused by a history of betrayal and abuse, makes him destroy the intimacy he desperately craves for. Hence, he turns towards the pleasures of drugs, sex, and temporary relationships, for those are the only things that provides him with the certainty of pleasure and happiness. 

 I think a major influence of this whole story is that it takes place in Japan, a collectivist society. These societies are less self-centered and have social values that revolve around what is best for a community. Yozo is a product of such a environment, having to put on a mask and value other’s needs over his own individual, this pushes him closer to his despair and downfall. 

 Word Count: 473