Japanophiles! discussion
This topic is about
No Longer Human
Group Reads: No Longer Human
>
Week 2: Second Notebook
date
newest »
newest »
In this portion of Yozo's tale, he makes connections (albeit tenuous ones) with Takeichi and Horiki. One is a classmate who sees through Yozo's act though not necessarily understands Yozo. The other is a devil-may-care character whom Yozo learns all about the seedier side of life.What do you make of the dynamic between Takeichi and Yozo?
What about Horiki? Is Yozo's connection with him stronger than with Takeichi? Why?
We also have the incident with Tsuneko. But more about that later.
His relationship with Takeichi is the most puzzling part of the book to me so far. Does he befriend him because he is in on Yozo's act? Is he attracted to him because he too is an outsider? Why does he clean his ear in such a gentle and personal manner? Is this Yozo's one chance at a "human" connection and he misses it? And missing that, does it doom him to failure to truly connect with anyone else? Is Takeichi just flattering him with the artist and ladies' man predictions or is he the only one who perceives Yozo's true nature? I'm at a loss for what his character means to Yozo, to the novel, in general.The life of dissipation seems like destiny for a man who feels no human connections. Why strive to impress or to lead a "human" existence when those around you are "others"? That desire for "otherness" reminds me of the boy from Into the Wild. It seems like lunacy to drop out of polite society, but when you feel no connection to that society, wouldn't it be crazier to live in it? To play by its rules? I feel like this is a theme in modern literature, more and more, as societal change moves faster, shocking changes rather than evolutionary changes. Project Mayhem from Fight Club comes to mind, Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, Francis Phelan from Ironweed, the list goes on. Horiki to me is a facilitator, he's the way Yozo finds his true self in the drinking, smoking and the illegal Communist Party meetings, he's Yozo's Tyler Durden to continue the parallel. If he hadn't existed, Yozo would have needed to create him.
And how ironic is it that he finds himself a part of something in the Communist organization. A philosophy of absolute equality and "sameness" for the ultimate outsider?
And playing to every "nice guy/bad boy" stereotype, he turns out to be a hit with the ladies as Takeichi predicted. His indifference seems to be magnetic. I'm intriguied by the progression of women, the sweet and virginal landlord's daughter, the Communist Party member and, finally, the bar hostess. He makes no connection to the first, a physical connection with the second. And then, in what seems like another instance of missing a potential human connection, he tries to kill himself with the hostess. It's crazy to think that his best chance to connect with another person is in a suicide attempt, but it really seems like it's a last desperate attempt to reach something that has eluded him his whole life, but it feels like he'll never be able to get closer to another person than this.
I know this book is semi-autobiographical, but it is so deep and rich in possibilities it almost seems like Dazai lived life like a novel rather than wrote a novel like life.
And not to belabor the Fight Club thing (sorry, I'm a huge Palahniuk fan, part of the delay in posting is because I just got his new book last week), but there's a quote in the movie that makes me think of Yozo. Tyler says to the narrator, "You know you have a kind of sick desperation in your laugh?" That's how I picture Yozo, not just his laugh, but his face, his manners, his presence. Maybe I'm just thinking about Fight Club because of my theory that he has some sort of personality disorder.
I'm also wondering about Dazai's place in post-WWII Japanese literature. The major authors are very dark in general, but this makes Mishima and Oe look like Chicken Soup for the Soul. Any thoughts?
Hi Andy.Good to hear from you!
It is puzzling. At first, Takeichi is baffled by Yozo's initial attempts to befriend him by staring blankly at him in response. Yozo, I think, is half afraid of having his darkness exposed and yet wants some sort of normal connection to someone who isn't necessarily repulsed by his darkness.
I think Takeichi represents hope for Yozo to climb out of his dark shell and some chance at normalcy. In Takeichi, he might be able to reconcile the darkness he perceives in himself and how to live within Society. Takeichi recognizes that the clown act (not clear if he recognizes the darkness in Yozo) but isn't afraid of Yozo or repulsed by him either.
I think Horiki represents the lost hope of being able to integrate with Society and an attempt to live unapologetically. However, it still falls short of the mark for Yozo. He is unable to find peace in this either.
It's funny you should mention characters from American Psycho and other novels of the like. They are characters who are hanging by a thread in Society. It's so true that they share the same disconnect as Yozo though of varying severity. I don't think Yozo is as bad as Patrick Bateman. Yozo is still rooted enough in Society to feel depressed about his disconnection and his inability to connect. Your quote from Fight Club is so spot on.
Perhaps the difference with some of the post-WWII Japanese authors is that they tend to deal with the loss of purpose as a society -- a broken machine with its innards still working. Here the individual is not even a part of the collective in any way. He is a broken cog in the machine, dangling precariously.
I agree he doesn't rise to the level of sociopathy that Project Mayhem or Patrick Bateman do. But none of them want to play by society's rules. So maybe the feeling for me is the same, if not the manifestation.I like the machine analogy. It makes me think of Mishima standing on the balcony of the NDF headquarters talking about a strong and very Japanese Japan. I doubt Dazai would have welt the machine was fixable, or worth fixing for that matter.
Bethany wrote: "I think Yozo want to understand Takeichi and also knows he can't hid things from him, I think he treats him almost like a lover."Completely agree. Definitely some homoerotic overtones in this book and that is the most glaringly obvious one. It could be that Yozo was struggling with those feelings as well and overcompensated by becoming a ladies' man. Maybe that's how Takeichi knew he'd be a success with women.
Just a quick reminder: you can discuss any part of the book up until the end of the Second Notebook. If you have read ahead and wish to discuss it, please post it in the appropriate topic thread. Thanks!