“Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being”.
Published in 1948, “No longer human” by Dazai Osamu is a semi-autobiographical novel, following the protagonist’s descent into self-destruction as he struggles with societal expectations, failed relationships, substance abuse, and a sense of alienation that he cannot overcome. Throughout the novel, he describes his frustrations at the university, his unhappy involvement with the Communist Party, and his disastrous love affairs, leading him to a life of depression and addiction.
From his early childhood, Yozo perceives himself as fundamentally different, unable to connect nor understand the “human beings” around him. Viewing humanity as banal, self-serving and hypocritical: “work to earn their bread, for if they don’t eat, they die”, he refers to other as “human beings” rather than identifying as one himself.
Despite his misanthropy, Yozo paradoxically craves acceptance. Although he dreads humanity, he is unable to renounce their society, therefore inventing his clowning: “I had become an accomplished clown, a child who never spoke a single truthful word.” This ignites in him a fear of being “discovered”, hauting him: “I disliked the thought that I might suddenly be subjected to their suspicious vigilance, when once the nightmarish reality under the clowning was detected.”
An individual who struggles to feel happiness, Yozo cannot find reason nor pleasure in life: “Whenever I was asked what I wanted my first impulse was to answer “Nothing”. The thought went through my mind that it didn’t make any difference, that nothing was going to make me happy.” He often conforms to other people’s wishes, not being able to follow his own faint wish: “I wanted to enter an art school, but my father put me into college, intending eventually to make a civil servant out of me. This was the sentece passed on me and I, who have never been able to answer back, dumbly obeyed”.
Despite despising human nature, he finds confort and liberation in their activities, turning to drugs, drowning himself in alcohol, and embracing superficial relationships: “I soon came to understand that drinks, tobacco and prostitutes were all excellent means of dissipating (even for a few moments) my dread of human beings.” Feeling a sense of security in the arms of prostitutes, which he does not consider human beings, he remains unable to form truthful friendships or romantic relationships. Loved by many women, he still feels like an outsider, unable to reciprocate their affection: “What uneasiness lies in being loved”. His inability to empathize becomes most evident when his wife is raped, an event he reacts to with detachment rather than support.
At the end of the novel, Yozo is treated in a hospital after swallowing many sleeping pills. He is seen as a lunatic, a reject. Portraying himself as a failure, he alienates himself further from society.
“And now I had become a madman. Even if released, I would be forever branded on the forehead with the word “madman”, or perhaps, “reject”
Disqualified as a human being.
I had now ceased utterly to be a human being
[…]
Now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness.
Everything passes.
That is the one and only thing I have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where I have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell.
Everything passes.
This year I am twenty-seven. My hair has become much greyer. Most people would take me for over forty”
For those willing to dive into its darkness, “No Longer Human” is a must-read. While certainly not a cheerful book, it leaves a lasting impact on its readers, inviting introspection and offering unforgettable insights into the human condition.
Geicu Dragos XII E
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