The Theme of Despair and Sin in Dazai Osamu’s No Longer Human: An Analysis from the Perspective of Kierkegaard

Abstract

This study examines the issue of despair and sin of the protagonist Yojo in Dazai Osamu’s No Longer Human through the theorietical reasoning developed in Søren Kierkegaard’s The Sickness unto Death. Yojo’s life in the novel contains Kierkegaard’s discussion of despair and sin. From Kierkegaard’s perspective, Yojo’s despair can be divided into despair of worldly things and despair of himself. His despair of the world stems from the fear and distrust of humanity experienced during his childhood. As a result, Yojo appears to have given up on himself by living his life, playing the buffoon in front of others. The despair towards himself means that Yojo’s despair has intensified. He attempts to recover through relationships with women who do not evoke fear in him but as all his attempts fail, his guilt and despair deepen. Yojo’s sin corresponds to the sin of despair before God. Although Yojo thinks about the existence of God and asks God questions, he fails to advance to the stage of faith where he believes in God’s forgiveness of sins. In the end, Yojo does not properly understand the meaning of Christ’s suffering and death which is the core of the Christian Gospel and cannot also believe in the infinite possiblity of the almighty God. The novel No Longer Human can be considered a work that is clearly distanced from the faith of Christianity which Kierkegaard embraces. Based on No Longer Human, it is difficult to view Dazai’s acceptance of Christianity and the Bible as a Christian evangelical understanding and remains at an ethical level based on the issue of biblical sin and punishment.