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Bumbling bees

"She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something" ~Eleanor and Park

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(1)this Is Something I Thought When I Read No Longer Human For The First Time 2 Years Ago And Just Remembered

(1)this is something I thought when I read no longer human for the first time 2 years ago and just remembered now, I thought the real Dazai, or maybe just the character Yozo, was very sexist. Might have to do with the abuse he faced as a child (I'm not sure about this part, it's been a long time). The only woman he ever appreciated was Tsuneko, who he attempted double suicide with. It seemed to him that all women were liars and Tsuneko had become superior to them when she said she was not happy.

(2) I’ve noticed the same thing when I read his short story Tanabata. Any thoughts on this? If you answered this before please just give me a link. I Love what you’re doing with the quotes/meta, thanks

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It is true that the Yozo, the protagonist of No Longer Human, was sexually abused as a child by a female servant at the house. And the real Dazai has hinted at being abused as a child in his first famous publication, “Memories,” so there is a similarity there. But I don’t think that he was sexist.

^ Dazai and Michiko with their daughter Sonoko

*Caution: this post includes some mature topics. If you do not want to read PG13 rated material do not read this post*

Women in Dazai’s Life

Dazai Osamu was very attached to his aunt and a nurse maid who helped raise him, Take-san, and actually considered both of those women to be more like a mother to him than his own mother. His real mother was in very poor health and was regularly away relaxing at onsens for health reasons.

After his idol Akutagawa’s suicide in 1927 Dazai turned to spending money on clothes, alcohol, and prostitutes. As Dazai grew up he fell in love with a geisha, Hatsuyo, and ran away with her only to be disowned by his family because of it.

Nine days after being disowned he attempted suicide by drowning with a waitress, Shimeko, who died while he survived. His family intervened so he wouldn’t cause trouble with police investigations regarding the incident.

Then Dazai basically forced his family into paying off Hatsuyo’s debts so he could marry her. He believed that she was still a virgin when he married her and was devastated when he learned that wasn’t the case. On top of that, while he was in the mental institution recovering from drug addiction, from when he was taking a morphine-based painkiller at the hospital being treated for acute appendicitis, Hatsuyo committed adultery with his best friend, an artist by the name of Zenshirou Kodate. Dazai and Hatsuyo then attempted a double suicide by taking sleeping pills, but it didn’t work. Instead they divorced.

Shortly after that his writing mentor Ibuse Masuji helped him to marry a middle school teacher named Michiko. After marrying Michiko his women troubles consisted of him getting another woman, Shizuko, pregnant and a year long relationship with a hairdresser, Tomie, who he later succeeded in a double suicide with.

*No Longer Human spoilers ahead*

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