#yozo

Minoru: I have shorter hours tomorrow... I could call him... But what would I say?

Minoru: Maybe if I had something in common with him in an obvious way? And it's not like I haven't thought about it before. I still hear more sims talking about me than have them talking to me. It's lonely. Yes, it would be nice to have a companion!

Minoru: "Welcome, Yozo! After a long trip from the mainland, you're finally here! I know it's not much, but I hope you will be happy in your new home. I'm happy to have you!"

I’ve just finished reading no longer human today and I want to ramble on it. These are mostly comparisons of BSD Dazai and Yozo. So here we go... First of all it’s very interesting to me Dazai’s understanding of his suicidal tendencies has more insight than Yozo’s. Dazai sees the existential lack of meaning in life but Yozo mostly sees the cause of his suffering in his inability to live up to the standards of the society. Even when he confesses to the arbitrariness of the standards, he places the blame on the feeling of being outside but not on the standards’ meaningless existence. He is not indifferent to act of living as a whole, he is just unsatisfied and ashamed of how he lives. He is ashamed of not being similar to others and not being able to understand them. It is, his life he is opposed to. It is only at the end of the book Yozo finally concludes “everything passes”.  Whereas, Dazai is aware, from the start, it is being alive and being human that is unbearable and there is no meaning in living. An encompassing fact. He does not say my life is not worth living, life in general for everyone is worthless. Everybody dies, but continues to live until that day. They live as if they won’t going to die. And the part about not understanding people does not apply to him at all. He is capable at deducing latent and manifest meanings behind people’s actions and manipulating them for his interests. 

Life is full of suffering for both of them but Dazai is indifferent to the idea of living while Yozo strives and fails at living up to the standards of the society he perceives. Yozo is someone who is always in deep shame, he always worries about his behaviours, and he is a harsh critic of himself. Dazai does not hold any shame, he does not take life or the people around him as seriously as Yozo he has nothing to be ashamed of he is just bored with life, bored with living and the sufferings it brings. He is in apathy whereas Yozo struggles with caring too much and trying too hard. 

Drawing parallels between the Yozo in Marxist movement and Dazai after joining port mafia, it is apparent that Dazai is more serious about his involvement in illegal activities. Yozo mostly joins Marxists because he feels rightly placed in the outsider atmosphere of the movement. Dazai’s involvement in Mafia is different however because I believe he had respect towards Mori and wanted his approval at the time. The outsider, illegal character of the mafia had little significance for Dazai and the acceptance of his comrades only came second for Yozo. I headcannon that  Dazai, being the intelligent person he is, had very high standards set up to him even in his family house and his suicide attempt was influenced by these standards similar to Yozo. But unlike Yozo, Dazai had Mori, another figure who he can satisfy with his talents, another figure who can bless him with acceptance. With Mori Dazai repeats the cycle of affirmation. Mori was the one, who gave him a reason to live after he lost interest in living. (I know Chuuya played a role in it too but Chuuya was a pawn in Mori’s plan.)This acceptance was not possible for Yozo because he convinced himself his background separated him from his comrades and he run away from them. 

Yozo was the smallest children of a traditional family his morality shaped by the strict rules of that lifestyle. His own desires conflicted with that morality. It is not that he doesn’t agree with the moral standards his father hold him up to, it is precisely because he agrees that causes him to suffer. In cases when he questions the concept of morality he does it, in order to free himself from the cognitive dissonance he experiences. He is aware that the societal rules are arbitrary and it is actually the people around him who judges him, hiding behind the so called societal rules. But it still hurts him to see how people who are as degenerate as he is (or even people who are worse than him) have the higher ground when it comes to judging him. And how he is unable to protest their unfairness accepting deep down they are right about him. Dazai’s morality is shown as non-existent during his time with the mafia. It was Odasaku who points this out by saying for Dazai both sides are the same. But I think, this is not true. Dazai knows both sides are not the same in regards to morality. But it is a fact that does not interest him. He is not in the mafia because he believes what they are doing is good, beneficial, bad, evil etc. He is not interested in the consequences of his actions on the world whether be it good or bad. He is interested in acceptance and affirmation. Mori gave these to him. This is the reason Dazai was able to move the ladder of hierarchy so fast in the mafia. Of course his talents was helpful but he also had the motivation to apply his talents on the mafia missions because of Mori’s positive reinforcement. Dazai only allow morality to effect his actions when Odasaku’s life was in danger and Mori mocked Dazai for this, saying “we are the Port Mafia. We have always brought darkness, violence, and cruelty to this city. Why is that a problem now?” Mori planned Odasaku’s death knowing about their friendship, Mori knew if he let Odasuku die Dazai would feel betrayed yet he done it regardless because Dazai is not as important to him as the license he gets in return for defeating mimic. In fact Dazai leaving mafia is beneficial for Mori. Dazai had been traded by his boss, by his mentor for a piece of paper. He realized how Mori perceived him all this time, a tool and a threat to his future reign. He realized his friend is going to die because of him, because Mori wanted to use Odasaku’s death to give Dazai an excuse to leave mafia. Dazai leaving was part of the plan all along. But it was only then Dazai realized this. I’d like to add that even before Mori’s betrayal and his death Odasaku started to influence Dazai’s perspective on life. We can see this in the scene where Dazai mentions Odasaku to Akutagawa. He compares himself to Odasaku, and says “But ‘righteousness’ doesn’t take very kindly to me”. Here he considers being morally righteous as a possibility, a possibility which is unfavourable to him but regardless he evaluates his actions on a morality scale. And then there is the scene where he apologizes to Odasaku for killing the assassins and compromising his principles. He respects the moral perspective of Odasaku that is precisely why he accepts his dying will. “It was clear that those words were supported by some sort of strong basis. Whether it was past experience or someone’s advice”. Dazai believes him. On another note, I think the most important part of Odasaku’s dying speech is when he says “People live to save themselves”. He led Dazai to the path he once tried to walk on but he also led Dazai know in this path (which looks like Dazai is the one doing the good deeds, saving people, feeding orphans etc.) it is yourself who you try to save regardless. He is telling Dazai to be on the good side to save himself.