Yozo's Spotify
Below are some songs I think he would have on his top five:
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No Longer Human is a semi-autobiography piece documenting the life and
philosophy of author Osamu Dazai. Written and published in 1948, the
narrator Oba Yozo's life takes place in pre-WWII Japan during the early
20th century.
In the book, we are presented with three journals he wrote to narrate
his life as a promising young man from a wealthy family. As a child,
Yozo had a high level of social intelligence, often grasping the intentions
and shallowness of adult interaction. However, he never understood and
intensely despised this form of fakeness and resorted to acting as the
jester to feel valued. Going to Tokyo for university, Yozo had his first
taste of alcoholism and suffered from the repercussions of the emotional,
physical, and sexual abuse from his father and servants. In a desperate
attempt to end his pain and deal with poverty, he attempted double-suicide
with his then love interest. While he survived, his partner did not, and
he was exiled from his family and left without a support system. During
his recovery, Yozo met his third wife and was drawn to her innocence and
ood-heartedness. Unfortunately, their happiness does not last, and we
witness more of his struggles and desperation.
Troubled by mental health issues and substance abuse, Yozo's tale lets
us peek into the brilliant yet heartbreaking mind of Dazai. His acute
and precise view of human interaction and its absurdity provides him with
many materials to work with, making mundane interactions exciting and
insightful. Due to Dazai's transparent writing style, he is able to
condense and display his feelings through subtle differences from
day-to-day actions.
“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.”
Yozo's actions remind me of a famous quote from Confucius, "the funniest people are the saddest ones." He is very aware of his acts and intentionally makes a joke out of himself to entertain others. He also builds his self-worth upon how others view him and believes that he does not deserve a place if he is not making others laugh. However, his social awareness also shows that he is brilliant, able to read subtle social cues and entertain whoever he wants. In a way, that is both a gift and a curse. The narrator is charismatic but self-doubting, often speculating that others are not genuine towards him. The lack of a solid standing and view of the world makes him devalue his life, falling into the habit of questioning his reality and everything around him. This dissociation later drives him towards alcoholism and a path of self-destruction.
“Is immaculate trustfulness a sin?""
Yozo has hinted in the past that the servants sexually abused him. He is attracted to Yoshiko for her trustfulness in others, which is, in a sense, something he craves because he lost his trust when he was young. This quote was repeated multiple times after he witnessed a sexual assault inflicted upon Yoshiko, furthering his distrust in others and emphasizing his view on human being monsters.
“In a book so enamored with the inhumanity of its protagonist, it felt acutely human to me, and at times, a reflection of my own life that I was not prepared to look into. ”
“The novel has a timeless quality: The struggle of the individual to fit into a normalizing society remains just as relevant today as it was at the time of writing. ”
Below are some songs I think he would have on his top five:
(swipe!)