"No Longer Human" by Osamu Dazai

“No Longer Human” also translated as “A Shameful Life” is a novel by Japanese writer Shūji Tsushima, known by his pen name Osamu Dazai. The novel consists of three notebook chapters written and left by the protagonist character, Ōba Yōzō. These chapters include Ōba's life from his early childhood to his late twenties. The novel is also categorized under the semi-autobiographical genre because Dazai had a similar life as Yōzō.

Yōzō is described as an isolated person who tries to exist with his buffoonery mask since his early childhood. He has a fear of not being accepted and understood by society; that’s why he chooses the clowning cover. The first two sentences of the first notebook chapter could interpret Yōzō’s thoughts and beliefs about himself and life: “Mine has been a life of shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being.” (Dazai, 18) 

Yōzō’s life is composed of suicide attempts, disgrace, and regrets. He reflects on these experiences in his writings, and he sheds light on the people who suffer from the same issues. That’s why one can comprehend how Yōzō feels and empathize with him. One of the most shameful experiences of his life is the double suicide attempt with a married woman, Tsuneko. Unfortunately, she dies, and he survives with the feeling of guilt and shame. 

He also has bad habits that surround him and make him addicted, such as alcohol and geishas. Throughout Yōzō’s life, he doesn’t have a reasonable and healthy relationship with anyone, so he does not know how to bond and love; this is the reason why he seeks some attachment from the wrong hands. He is disconnected from his family, but he needs their love, attention, and care. Hence, the lack of affection leads him to the lack of affection for himself, in other words, suicide. 

 At the end of the novel, the reader does not know whether he’s still alive or not; however, Yōzō concludes his notes by saying that he’s neither happy nor unhappy and emphasizes that “everything passes." Therefore, the ending is ambiguous, and the storyline shows us how Yōzō sees himself and his life as full of failure, shame, and pain. 

In addition, Yōzō has existentialist and absurdist behaviors to some extent; while he doesn’t care to reject someone or something, he doesn’t insist on what he’s going to study in college and what he wants. He thinks that ultimately the search for meaning will fail and there is no need to struggle anymore. The first time he rejects something is clearly depicted in those lines: “No, “I said, “I won’t need it anymore.” This was a really rare event. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that it was the one and only time in my life that I refused something offered to me.” (Dazai, 112)