“ My whole life is a complete disgrace. Although I still could not understand what human life is . " With these words begins the “Confession of the“ inferior ”person” by Dazai Osamu. The story of a man who did not know what he wanted. Voluntarily sank to the bottom of society and took his fall for granted. But whose fault is this? Man, what made that choice? Or a society that left no other options?
Shuji Tsushima
Dazai Osamu is perhaps the most famous Japanese writer of the early twentieth century. Few people know that his real name is Shuji Tsushima. The writer was born on June 19, 1909 in Aomori Prefecture in a family of noble aristocrats. At the age of 14, he went to high school, after graduation he left for Hirosaki and entered the lyceum as a philologist. Despite the fact that all lyceum students had to live in a dormitory, he lived with distant relatives (this is what a noble birth means). After Lyceum, Shuji enters the University of Tokyo Teikoku at the Department of French Literature. An interesting fact: the future writer was not a fan of French literature and entered this faculty only because there was no need to pass exams.
Writer and geisha
Shuji did not have time to unlearn a semester at the university, as a woman appeared in his life - geisha Beniko. They have a stormy romance. Naturally, this causes a wave of indignation in the family circle, and the head of the family immediately goes to Tokyo. Shuji is forced to write out of the family book so as not to disgrace a noble family by his behavior. Very soon he received a notice of discharge, and a couple of days later he became engaged to a geisha. True, something went wrong: a few days after the engagement, Shuji makes a suicide attempt, he was rescued, but the girl with whom he jumped into the sea did not have time.
This story is very reminiscent of fragments from the book of Osamu Dazai "Confession of the" inferior "person." Coincidence? Unlikely. Most likely, the story is autobiographical.
The birth of Dazai Osamu
The world first learned of the existence of Dajai Osama in February 1933, when the story "The Train" was published in a Tokyo newspaper. He received the first prize in a contest held by this newspaper. It is in this way that the fictional Dazai Osama went down in the history of literature. Since that time, the writer began the pursuit of the perfect work. Although he was considered a student, he did not attend lectures, but strove to create a story of his life and leave this world.
So, from his pen, about 24 works came out, among which was “The Confession of a“ Defective ”Man (Dazai Osamu).
Vile but beautiful
“Vile and beautiful” - this is how one can describe the “Confession of the“ inferior ”person” to Osamu Dadzai.
The story tells about the life of a weak person Yozo Obe. This is a story about the tragic fate of a young artist who was destined to live in times of revolutionary events in the country. In terms of physical health, it is quite normal. His "inferiority" is manifested in the unwillingness to live.
The hero finds solace in alcohol, women and drugs. Perhaps, in other conditions, such behavior could be called rebellious: against the foundations of the family and society as a whole. But he simply does not want anything from life, he has neither a goal, nor desires.
Deeps of darkness
As a child, when his father traveled to the city and asked Yozo what to buy, he could not decide. Immediately after the question, he ceased to want anything at all. In "Confession of the" inferior "person" by Dazai Osamu there is not even a hint of a ray of hope. Yozo is a coward and a weakling, a low and disgusting man who has ruined more than one life.
Is it worth it to blame? Not at all. He independently makes decisions and from judgments will not bear any benefit for himself. The reader as if turns into an involuntary witness of how a person falls into the abyss. He has a chance to get out, but Yozo purposefully seeks to hide in the depths of darkness. A man who refused to accept his life and fight for it. What can be called his story about his life? Only the confession of the "inferior" person.
Reviews
Nevertheless, this work is a wonderful literary sketch. When you turn the last page and remember the main character, a nasty aftertaste immediately arises. But the gloomy tonality, the sophisticated in its minimalism syllable evoke the feeling that I had to hold an amazing masterpiece of art in my hands.
Reviews about the "Confession of the" inferior "person" Dazai Osamu for the most part have a pronounced duality: readers assure that the book is good and at the same time they feel a certain aversion to the main character. In some cases, hatred can be replaced by the indifference, pity, or anger that readers have for Yozo. Although in general the reviews about the work are positive.
This book was published in 1948. Already in the 50s, they made a translation of Dazai Osama's Confession of the “Defective” Man into English and published in America. After the war, Dazai Osamu was the first Japanese writer that other countries learned about, and all because he very naturally and sincerely described the condition of the losing Japan.
In 1968, when massive student unrest took place around the world, one of the Japanese newspapers conducted a survey among young people. It turned out that "Confession of the" inferior "person" was included in the list of literature that can inspire. Along with this work, students of 4 major universities of the country called “War and Peace” (L.N. Tolstoy), “Crime and Punishment” (F.M. Dostoevsky), “Outsider” (A. Camus). And even now, Dazai Osamu is considered one of the best prose writers of Japanese literature.
Autobiographical story
"Confession of the" inferior "person" (Dazai Osamu) is an autobiographical story. The author wrote it when he left a psychiatric hospital, where he was treated for drug addiction. Initially, he published a story about a missing person. Although completely this image he managed to translate into "Confession."
In Japanese literature, Dazai Osamu is a significant and tragic figure. All of his works are characterized by biography, even in "Confession of the" inferior "person" Yozo, he ascribes his real memories from childhood. The sad fate made the writer famous, he was always guided by his own ideas about literature, introduced something new into its culture and described Japanese society very realistically. He managed to preserve the grace of Japanese literary tradition in his works. Reading his works means seeing Japan from the inside, smelling it, mood and greatness.
"The story of the" inferior "man" is one of the stories of Dazai Osamu. An important place is occupied by social movements and the political development of the country. The author is sure that war is a real absurdity that brings nothing but destruction. The inhumanity of society dislikes him, which is clearly manifested in the main character.
The psychologism of the work has such a high level due to the tragic fate of the writer himself. Thanks to the problems experienced, as well as the focus of the literary plot on modern Japanese society, which so vividly worried about the fate of their country, even the confession of a morally mutilated person, which is not always pleasant to read about, has become a sought-after and valuable masterpiece.