Controversial Classics: No Longer Human

No Longer Human, a Japanese classic by Osamu Dazai, (largely believed to be an autobiography of sorts) is the novel that fundamentally altered my view of myself and others. I read this novel in seventh grade, and my adolescent self deeply related to Oba Yozo, the protagonist. The novel itself is an exploration of alienation, despair, and inability to function in society, all of which contribute to the main character feeling "no longer human".

Rather than surrounding the plot around a grand allegory or commentary on politics, No Longer Human is a series of notebook entries that follow the Oba Yozo. Outwardly, he is charming and funny, and refers to himself as a "clown", who uses performance to hide his hollowness. However, this makes him feel consumed by his own shame and disconnect from his outer mask and inner self. His mind is his prison, and his life continues, his identity becomes mere emptiness.

Oba Yozo's conflict does not come from rebellion or inner turmoil. The novel is simply marking the ways in which Oba Yozo slowly deteriorates. He does not create meaning in a meaningless world, and instead succumbs to it. Philosophically, this aligns with Kierkegaard’s despair: the inability to align the finite self with the infinite demand of existence. But where Kierkegaard found a solution in faith, Oba Yozo does not. He cannot make meaning or rebel against absurdity like Camus's "Sisyphus." Oba Yozo's philosophy is not existentialism with hope, instead it is mere nihilism.

Ultimately, No Longer Human is a study of the boundaries of human existence. Can a person who rejects meaning, intimacy, and authenticity still be considered human? Dazai’s answer is bleak: perhaps not. The novel forces us to confront the possibility that our “humanity” is far more fragile than we think, dependent not on essence but on the roles we agree to play. Oba Yozo refuses, or is unable to play them, and in doing so, reveals the abyss beneath.