Osamu Dazai's (太宰治) “The Setting Sun” (斜陽)

Osamu Dazai's “The Setting Sun”- describes the Japanese society during and after the Second World War. It portrays its decline and spiritual dryness. The book is very sad and very melancholic, the metaphors govern the entire descriptions given by the girl – Kazuko. She is not that young - 29 years old, therefore, experienced with some sets of her own opinions, she is angry, indifferent, sad and hopeless, once she belonged to a very rich family, whose fortune declined, during the war the whole money were blurred into unsuccessful sets of business ventures. She got used to live in Tokyo which is a modern metropolis, sadly, when the money finished, both, she and her mother moved from their luxury settings in Tokyo into “village cottage”. Both women try to coexist, try to find mutual understanding and “no men's land” – where they discuss neutral, “safe” topics, the fragile harmony is ruined by the arrival of Kazuko's brother – Naoji. Both women were certain he died, he was pronounced lost in a battle field during the war. His demeanor is far from perfect, he is addicted to anything he can drink, smoke, take in huge amounts. He lost most of his money to his senseless trips to Tokyo where he drinks and has got fun, his arrival doesn't foretell luck, in contrary, troubles, and so it goes, he loses most of the money having trips to Tokyo, he drinks, addicts himself to his heart's content. Kazuko tries to look after herself by putting her trust and heart to an alcoholic novelist, a friend of hers. The novel "The Setting Sun" reflects Dazai's emotional problems, his frequent depressions, alcoholic breakdowns, his dysfunctional life reflects his craftsmanship. All his characters are outcasts, long time forgotten and driven at the outskirts of the society, doesn't matter women or men, both sexes equally represent – fragility, eagerness to expose weak-will, prompt to lead sinful, lustful, desperate life which ends with self-destruction or suicide. The destruction is pointless – it doesn't change the process of changes that emerged in Japan, the destruction doesn't change the fact that there was a war which brought Japan to a total cataclysm. The novel "The Setting Sun" shows something more than changes, war, post-war changes, it shows self-consciousness – Kazuko's decision to abandon the luxury class is deliberate, it is her “liberation” or “deliberation” – as plot goes on we try to find it out … we judge her and read between the lines that the destiny is in her decision making, by resigning from privileges she got use to have she alienates herself, she is in no longer a member of an elite, and her elite friends avoid her, she becomes unrecognized, a total stranger. The book reflects the moods of Japanese society – the feeling of defeat, the war for Japan ended tragically, the nuclear bomb drops over Hiroshima and Nagasaki meant a final exclamation – “Over!”. The overwhelming despair has been felt, has been described. The tragedy and the outcomes of post-war future were perceived differently by Japan and by Western cultures. The contradictions of perception wrote the modern history and Dazai was part of it, he described it as he felt it – by his visions of his “constantly high” sublime mind. The pure analysis of his book will resemble the rolling twenties so vividly described by F.Scott. Fitzgerald – “The Great Gabsty”- represents a decline of a great world, great love, money, innocence and at last the War. The book is sentimental, it yearns for spontaneity, Dazai's characters pretend, they are not spontaneous, they are frightened, already dead. Therefore while reading the reader personifies with the protagonists, their lives, problems, we mustn't forget that Dazai's books were highly autobiographical, every single time he describes himself. The mentality of people in Dazai's books gives readers Japan they want to meet, they know from some tales, he assures them that what they had heard so far is true, the origins didn't change. The western patterns soak into Japan, nonetheless, its culture still is intact, the western music, literature interacts with Japanese and Japan wins that battle, eventually, the customs, the habits are deeply rooted into mentality, that will never be gotten rid off, luckily, there is still some room for new, different ones and Japan absorbs it.

Dazai presents his 'indifferent' point of view – he describes inevitable, irreversible torrents of events. Real life just the way it goes ...