No Longer Human

by Osamu Dazai

Society. I felt as though even I were beginning at last to acquire some vague notion of what it meant. It is the struggle between one individual and another, a then-and-there struggle, in which the immediate triumph is everything. Human beings never submit to human beings. Even slaves practice their mean retaliations. Human beings cannot conceive of any means of survival except in terms of a single then-and-there contest. They speak of duty to one’s country and suchlike things, but the object of their efforts is invariably the individual, and, even once the individual’s needs have been met, again the individual comes in. The incomprehensibility of society is the incomprehensibility of the individual. The ocean is not society; it is individuals. This was how I managed to gain a modicum of freedom from my terror at the illusion of the ocean called the world. I learned to behave rather aggressively, without the endless anxious worrying I knew before, responding as it were to the needs of the moment.

Society as a Struggle of Individuals: The author suggests that society is not a cohesive or harmonious entity but a constant struggle between individuals. The focus is on “the immediate triumph,” implying that social interactions often prioritize short-term victories or self-interest over collective well-being. Incomprehensibility of Society and the Individual: The author sees society as an abstract, overwhelming concept, likening it to the vastness of the ocean. However, this “ocean” is ultimately composed of individuals, each driven by their own desires and struggles. Understanding society, then, requires grappling with the complexity of individual motives.