No Longer Human - Dazai (Lo squalificato) 2nd notebook
After the middle school, he move from the small village of Ueno, and start the school to become a "functionary" like his father. However it seems that find something interesting in the picture (as always art is something that can save the poor souls that are struggling to live). He start to skip school and go to art courses, where he met a person that introduce him to alcohol, drugs and women.
He's the right person because he's constantly talking about useless stuff and he can avoid the silences between two people.
When he start drinking, quickly understand that the alcohol is a really convenient way anesthetize himself and living better his conditions. The burden of wearing a mask, and knew it that you're wearing it, without laying to yourself.
It's extremely easy to empathize with Yozo, everyone is wearing a mask those days, and since the young age, you are polluted with the adult world with hypocrisy.
He's relationship with women is also very interesting. He says that every women he met, do not really love him, they look after him, in a more "primitive" sense.
This until he start to hang out with whores.
He met an hostess in one of those pubs in Japan, where you can have physical contact with them. This is the first, and probably last time he was really happy, or at least that was how he felt.
After the night as always, he run away, as it was scared by her.
The major event came when he met her again, and feeling a sort of connection, in what it seems to be the struggle of living in that society, they try to commit suicide.
She died, he survived.
That's obviously a major turning point in his life. His family tried to disinherit him, and was also almost charged with instigation of suicide.
He found himself "locked" in the house of a father's friend, who treat him with sufficiency, but also, the most important thing, was never truly direct with him.
A lot of people try to "decorate" each phrase to avoid telling the stuff as they are. This is something everyone has experienced in the life. The truth is hard to swallow, but it's better than a distorted truth.
That person, also called "Sogliola", like the fish, instead of telling him that he should return to school, and that his family would have supported him, economically; tried to ask him what he want to do in his life. Something he can't really understand and then answer.
This leads him to escape and go back to his old "friend" who quickly turn out then wasn't a real friend. But this allow Yozo to met a women.
With this women, he experienced the life of the maintained. Living with her and her daughter. Also starting working as an illustrator for child's books.
This permits him to gain some money, used for buying alcohol.
Next -> No Longer Human - Dazai (Lo squalificato) 3nd notebook
Prev -> No Longer Human - Dazai (Lo squalificato) 1st notebook