no longer human by Osamu dazai

mine has been a life of much shame

I can't even guess what it must be to live the life

of a human being



portraying himself as a failure the protagonist of

dazai Osamu,s no longer human narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings Oba yozo's attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood continues through high school were he becomes a "clown" to mask his alienation and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult without sentimentality he records the casual cruelties of life and it's fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness