ANTROPOPHOBIA EXPERIENCED BY THE MAIN
CHARACTER AS SEEN IN OSAMU DAZAI’S
NO LONGER HUMAN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
Aditya Surya Putra Student number: 05 4214 018
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
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MOTTO
“There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” ~ Carl Gustav Jung.
“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.” ~ Buddha.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to give my greatest gratitude to my parents, Papa Drajad and Mamih Tuty for encouraging and supporting me unconditionally to finish this undergraduate thesis. My thankfulness also goes to my brother Akbar and my sister Annin for their precious undergirds during my hardest times. For Maria Maya Aristya, this undergraduate thesis would not be done if she were not sacrificing her hours just for accompanying me in good and bad times.
I would like to thank my advisor, Mrs. Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. Her help, guidance and patience along the process of this writing have been very contributing. Without her patience for check and recheck my thesis, there would be many mistakes made. I also thank Mr. Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A. as my reader.
Next, I would like to thank all of the people in Lidahibu, especially the editor in chief Wahyu Adi Putra Ginting for the discussions, his help and advices to conduct this thesis. For Fizma Andrea Nishkra, I would not have had any idea about the thing written in this thesis without earlier discussions with her if she did not patiently teach me about structuralism and other theories, even though the lessons were given via Skype. I also thank Alwi Atma Ardhana, Ko Ing San, and Riris for their creative times in Bangkai Kepiting and Equinox.
Lembar Pernyataan Persetujuan Publikasi Karya Ilmiah………...vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ………..vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………..viii
ABSTRACT ………...x
ABSTRAK ………xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………....1
A. Backgroud of the Study ………...1
B. Problem Formulation ………..4
C. Objectives of the Study ………...4
D. Definition of Terms ……….5
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ………...7
A. Review of Related Studies ………..7
B. Review of Related Theories ………9
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ………..…..9
2. View on Freeter ………...12
3. Theory of Somatization (Early Aging) ………...…14
4. Theory of Social Anxiety (Anthropophobia) ………..16
5. Theory of Suicide ………17
6. Theory of Attribution ………..18
C. Theoretical Framework ……….20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………..22
A. Object of Study ……….22
B. Approach of the Study ………..24
C. Method of the Study ………..25
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………...28
A. The Characterization of Main Character (Yozo) ………..29
1. Physical Characterization of Yozo ……….29
2. Non-Physical Characterization of Yozo in Certain Period…………..33
a. Adolescence ………..33
b. Young Adulthood ………..34
c. Middle Age ………...35
B. The Contribution of Freeter Label Towards Yozo’s Anthropophobia … 39 1. Personal (Internal) Attribution of Yozo ………..41
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b. Hidden Obsession ……… 44
c. Bias and Error in Attribution ………45
2. Situational (External) Attribution ………...47
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………..51
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………...54
ABSTRACT
Aditya Surya Putra. The Significance of Freeter Label Towards Anthropophobia Experienced By the Main Character as Seen in Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University. 2011.
This study begins with the Barthes’ essay which claims that literary work and creator are unrelated. With that theory, the writer of this research decides to study a literary work that can be criticized without concerning on author’s intention, and the writer’s choice goes to psychological development of the main character in a literary work. Osamu Dazai’s novel, No Longer Human (1958) is chosen for this research. In the novel, Yozo (the main character) chooses to live differently compared by most of Japanese at that time. He is a mediocre artist (cartoonist). On a contrary, Japanese society does not consider a second-rate cartoonist as a job, and classifies those people as a “freeter” – a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 – 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding homemakers and students. They may also be described as underemployed or freelance workers. Later, the freeter label makes Yozo undergoes a mental disease called anthropophobia – dread of meeting or interacting with other human or society. So, the writer of this research is interested in exploring about Yozo’s relationship with the “freeter” label he has.
In order to get a clear image why Yozo is considered as one of “freeters”, the first question in problem formulation will talk about it. Next, the findings in the first problem formulation will be the foundation to find how “freeter” label does make Yozo suffers from anthropophobia, both from Yozo’s inner-self within and external factor (society).
The method applied in this study is library research. Some steps applied in this study are collecting the data, doing close reading, gaining the data necessary for the problem formulations, reading and revealing the “freeter” label of Yozo which given by the society, and its contribution of anthropophobia experienced by Yozo. To explore the relationship between the “freeter” label and anthropophobia, the writer of this research takes anvantage of social psychology approach.
Through the analysis on the characteristics of Yozo, the fact that Yozo is included as one of the “freeters” are compiled – both from physical and non-physical aspect. In the next analysis, the writer of this research finds out how the “freeter” label has big contribution towards the mental disease called anthropophobia undergone by Yozo, with the internal (personal) attribution (that involves ‘outside look’ of Yozo, his hidden obsession, and bias/error in attribution of him towards the society), along with external (situational) attribution. So, Yozo, in the end of the story, becomes a very introverted person. He feels awkward and anxious when he appears in front of people.
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ABSTRAK
Aditya Surya Putra. The Significance of Freeter Label Towards Anthropophobia Experienced By the Main Character as Seen in Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma. 2011.
Tesis ini berawal dari esai Barthes yang mengklaim bahwa karya satra dan penciptanya tidaklah berkaitan. Berbekal teori tersebut, penulis ingin mengkaji sebuah karya sastra dengan mengesampingkan tendensi penulis, dan pilihan penulis jatuh pada kritik perkembangan psikologi karakter utama dalam sebuah karya sastra. No Longer Human (1958), sebuah novel karya Osamu Dazai dipilih penulis untuk penelitian ini. Dalam novel tersebut, Yozo, si tokoh utama, memilih untuk hidup dengan cara yang berbeda dengan kebanyakan orang Jepang: menjadi seorang seniman (kartunis) kelas dua. Sebaliknya, masyarakat Jepang menganggap pekerjaan semacam itu tidak bisa disebut sebagai pekerjaan, dan mengklasifikasikan orang-orang seperti itu sebagai “freeter” – ungkapan masyarakat Jepang untuk menyebut orang berumur antara 15 – 34 tahun yang tidak bekerja penuh-waktu atau pengangguran (ibu rumah tangga atau pelajar tidak termasuk). Mereka juga sering disebut sebagai pekerja lepas berupah rendah. Label tersebut nantinya membuat Yozo mengidap antropofobia – takut akan bertemu dan berinteraksi dengan manusia lain ataupun masyarakat. Dengan latar belakang itu, penulis tertarik melihat lebih jauh hubungan si tokoh utama dengan label “freeter” yang melekat padanya.
Untuk mendapatkan penggambaran yang jelas mengapa Yozo dianggap sebagai salah satu dari “freeter”, permasalahan yang pertama akan difokuskan mengenai hal tersebut. Lantas, temuan-temuan bahwa Yozo dianggap sebagai “freeter” akan dijadikan dasar pencarian tentang bagaimana label tersebut dapat mengakibatkan Yozo mengidap antropofobia, baik dari dalam diri Yozo sendiri, maupun faktor luar (masyarakat).
Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi pustaka. Beberapa langkah yang diterapkan di studi ini adalah mengumpulkan data, melakukan pembacaan mendalam, mengambil data yang dibutuhkan untuk rumusan masalah, membaca dan mengungkap label “freeter” dari masyarakat atas Yozo, dan kontribusi label “freeter” tersebut atas penyakit antropofobia yang diidap oleh Yozo. Untuk melihat hubungan label “freeter” dan antropofobia, penulis menggunakan pendekatan psikologi sosial.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Literature is a medium to reflect reality, alongside with other art works. Roland Barthes argues against traditional literary criticism's practice of incorporating the intentions and biographical context of an author in an interpretation of a text, and instead argues that writing and creator are unrelated (1977: 142-149). The author’s job is only to create the circumstances, or issue, through characters, plots, settings, et cetera, which are the intrinsic elements of the literary work. Meanwhile, the readers have a task as well – elaborating or transforming the author’s idea into some kind of useful thought by using the literary criticism. This is the writer’s goal of conducting this research. Among many of literature branches and origin, in this research, the writer chose the Japanese literature to elaborate the idea of the author.
Japanese literature is one of the oldest and richest literatures in the world. Since the late 1800s, Japanese writings have become increasingly familiar abroad. Genres such as haiku verse, noh play, and the Japanese novel have had a substantial impact on literature in many parts of the world. The literary history of Japan, like the history of the country itself, has been marked by alternating periods of isolation from the outside world and engagement with it. During times of greater contact with foreign societies, Japanese literature absorbed new approaches, genres, and concepts. Another consistent factor in Japanese literature
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over the centuries has been a tension between the generally traditionalist values of the elite members of society and the innovative impulses that have come from the culture of common people. Both camps influenced each other, and both contributed greatly to Japanese literary history (Keene, 1997: 56).
Japan is identical with their uniqueness. How they see things is different from the other countries. For example, the Japanese standard of success is not how rich people are, but how they make money, or whom they work for. The writer believes that the condition affected Japan – the people, the ideology, the values, etc. Likewise, it affects how the Japanese authors express their feeling through literary work. A series of Japanese writers captured the spirit of the times more accurately by striving to come to terms with the drastically changed social conditions. The novels Shayō (1947; The Setting Sun, 1956) and Ningen Shikkaku (1948; No Longer Human, 1958) by Osamu Dazai express the difficulty of enduring in a world where conventional values have become meaningless. Because many of his characters were often overwhelmed by despair and even suicide, Dazai’s suicide in 1948 was widely seen as the expected conclusion to his career and life (Keene, 1997: 74-76).
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Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding homemakers and students. They may also be described as underemployed or freelance workers. These people do not start a career after high school or university but instead usually live as so-called parasite singles with their parents and earn some money with low skilled and low paid jobs. The low income makes it difficult for freeters to start a family, and the lack of qualifications makes it difficult to start a career at a later point in life (Katsumata, 2000: 8). As the society labeled Yozo as one of the freeters, he got a lot of pressure that came from his friends, society, even from his own family. These conditions made Yozo suffer from antropophobia, a kind of psychological disturbance in which the sufferer has dread (fear) of human being.
The writer is inquisitive to analyze the psychological effect of the freeter’s phenomenon (and the society’s attitude towards them) experienced by the main character that even caused him a severe psychological trauma. The effect can be seen through how odd and awkward Yozo’s attitude was in facing the other people. Therefore, the topic “The Significance of Freeter Towards the Main Character as Seen in Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human” is picked for the research.
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B. Problem Formulation
To guide the study, the writer has prepared two research questions related to the topic. The questions are formulated as follows:
1. How is the main character described as a freeter in the story?
2. How does the freeter label give contribution to the anthropophobia experienced by the main character in the story?
C. Objectives of the Study
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D. Definition of Terms
There are two terms to be defined related to the title of this research and the analysis that follows. These terms need to be clarified in order to give better understanding of the study.
The first word is freeter. According to Yukiko M. Katsumata in her thesis Japanese Social Security Measures to Support the Retiring Aged: From
Employment Insurance and Public Pension (2000: 11-12), which was issued for
Japanese National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, freeter is a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding homemakers and students. They may also be described as underemployed or freelance workers. These people do not start a career after high school or university but instead usually live as so-called parasite singles with their parents and earn some money with low skilled and low paid jobs. The low income makes it difficult for freeters to start a family, and the lack of qualifications makes it difficult to start a career at a later point in life. The word freeter or freeta is thought to be an amalgamation of the English word free (or perhaps freelance) and the German word Arbeiter (worker). Another possibility is a shortening of free loader “furee-ro-da” to “furi – da” (The German word Arbeit is commonly used as the Japanese loanword arubaito for “part-time job”). Other possible spellings are furītā, furiita, freeta, furiitaa, or furitaa in order of frequency. Furita is also called as NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) in United Kingdom.
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
Among the Japanese writers who lived after the World War II, Osamu Dazai was one of the most influential writers in the era. D. Brudnoy on his book, The Immutable Despair of Osamu Dazai stated that Dazai was a Japanese novelist
and a master storyteller, who became at the end of World War II the literary voice and literary hero of his generation. In many books Dazai used biographical material from his own family background, and made his self-destructive life the subject of his books. Osamu Dazai was born Tsushima Shuji in Kanagi, in northern Honshu, as the tenth of eleven children. His father was a wealthy landowner and politician. Mainly servants brought up Dazai. He studied French literature at the University of Tokyo. There he came into contact with Marxism, started to write and gradually dropped his studies. Dazai first attracted attention in 1933 when his short stories began to appear in magazines. Between the years 1930 and 1937 he made three suicide attempts. The subject was also brought up many of his short stories, among them Doke no Hana (1936) and Tokyo Hyakkei (1941). A Clown Among Clowns describes Dazai trying to describe his first suicide attempt. His second novel, No Longer Human was published in 1946, right after the loss of Japan in World War II. Brudnoy also affirmed that the book was an attack on the traditions of Japan, capturing the postwar crisis of Japanese cultural identity. The tone of his postwar idea in this book was dark, but his
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troubled life, suicidal thoughts, and spirit of rebelliousness touched the lost generation of youth (1968: 68-70).
In addition, Richard Gartner in his psychotherapy book Betrayed as Boys: Psychodynamic Treatment of Sexually Abused Men stated that No Longer Human
paints the portrait of the life of Yozo, a troubled soul incapable of revealing his true self to others and who is instead forced to uphold a facade of hollow jocularity, and Dazai might have been a sufferer of complex post-traumatic stress disorder whilst writing the book. Many of the critics have praised the book for expressing male sexual trauma (2005: 166).
To boot, Serdar Yegulap wrote about Dazai on his book, Genji Press of the Far East, Near West, and a Great Deal In-Between, that No Longer Human is
the most unabashedly autobiographical of Dazai’s works, and for that reason one of the most difficult to stomach. His life story reads like Gothic drama: multiple suicide attempts, usually with a woman; indulgences in drugs and alcohol; bitter feuds with family and rivals; vomit and terror and finally death by his own hand. Yegulap’s opinion highlights Dazai’s idea about his declines relationship with his family, and the character’s mental disorder (2007: 38).
By considering the several statements of study and criticism mentioned above, there are points that can be drawn. First, Osamu Dazai on his book, No Longer Human, wrote his autobiography on the form of novel. Second, the
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character’s development and less concering about the Dazai’s personal life. Because, the writer thinks that Yozo is the ideal model to examine the Japanese condition towards their attitude dealing with freeter and also will be more concern about Yozo’s mental disease, anthropopobia, which caused by the freeter label given to him by the society.
B. Review of Related Theories
In answering the problem formulation, there are some theories related to the topic that are taken from several sources, which are: theory of character and characterization, view on freeter, theory of somatization disorder, theory of social anxiety (anthropophobia), theory of suicide, and theory of attribution in social psychology.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art (such as a novel, play, or film). Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theatre or cinema, involves “the illusion of being a human person.” Since the end of the 18th century, an actor has used the phrase “in character” to describe an effective impersonation. Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practiced by actors or writers, has been called characterization. A character, which stands as a representative of a particular class or group of people, is known as a type. Types include both stock characters and those that are more fully individualized. The characters in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda
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Gabler (1891) and August Strindberg's Miss Julie (1888), for example, are
representative of specific positions in the social relations of class and gender, such that the conflicts between the characters reveal ideological conflicts (Stanton, Rohrbreher, 1983: 17-20).
Meanwhile, according to M.J. Murphy, there are nine ways of describing characters as his/her depiction of their own characterization. These are the nine ways:
Firstly, character can be analyzed through the character’s personal description. The writer characterizes the character by seeing a character from his physical appearance like the way he dresses, his build, his face, his skin, or his hair.
The second is by analyzing from other character point of view or character as seen by another. A character can be analyzed through another character’s sight and opinions to describe the character that the writer wants to expose.
Thirdly, a character can be characterized by character’s speech. The readers can have an opinion about the character by paying attention on the character’s speech. The reader can also see the conversation in which the character is involved – the way he/she gives his or her opinion may also show the personality of the character.
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Fifthly, a character could be analyzed from conversation of others; the readers can get to know a character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him.
Sixthly, by perceiving the character’s reactions to various situations and events, an author shows his character’s tendency, and this tendency gives the readers a clue about character’s personality.
Seventhly, a character can be characterized by the author’s direct comment and description on the character. In this way there is no medium the author used to characterize the character. The author directly describes the character and also gives comment on the character.
Eighthly, the thought of the character can be used to characterize the character. The author shows the character’s personality by letting the readers understand the deepest thought of the character in a novel.
The last is the author characterizes the character by describing the character’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies. The author shows the personalities of the character by stating the character’s gestures and habits, so that it can help the reader to get closer to the character personalities (1972: 161-173).
Yet, the writer only uses seven points of Murphy’s theory since the past experience of the character is not necessary to reveal the freeter status of Yozo in the novel. Also, the novel is told with first-person technique, so there is no author’s direct comment and description on the character.
Characterization is the process of conveying information about characters in narrative or dramatic works of art or everyday conversation. Characters may be
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presented by means of description, through their actions, speech, or thoughts. A well-developed character is one that has been thoroughly characterized, with many traits shown in the narrative. The better the audience knows the character, the better the character development. Thorough characterization makes characters well-rounded and complex. This allows for a sense of realism. As an example, according to F.R. Leavis, Leo Tolstoy was the creator of some of the most complex and psychologically believable characters in fiction. In contrast, an underdeveloped character is considered flat or stereotypical.
Character development is very important in character-driven literature, where stories focus not on events, but on individual personalities. Classic examples include War and Peace or David Copperfield. In a tragedy, the central character generally remains fixed with whatever character flaw (hamartia) seals his fate; in a comedy the central characters typically undergo some kind of epiphany (sudden realization) whereupon they adjust their erratic beliefs and practices, and avert a tragic fate (Stanton, Rohrbreher, 1983: 17-20).
2. View on Freeter
According to Reiko Kosugi on her journal, Youth Employment in Japan’s Economic Recovery: ‘Freeters’ and ‘NEETs’, Following the onset of Japan’s
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employees of companies. At the same time, there was a great increase in the number of young people who were engaged in unstable forms of employment, such as temporary or part time work, and who are known as “freeters.”
The term “freeter” then was first coined in the late 1980s when the economy was booming, and it originally referred to young people who refused to become permanent employees, instead engaging in temporary or part time work. Many of these hoped eventually to become professionals in the worlds of music or the theatre and the like. At first the problem of “freeters” was seen as a problem concerning a shift in young people’s attitude to work. However, after the recession began in the postwar era, the number of young people who could not find permanent employment increased, and many were forced to accept temporary employment. Such people also referred to themselves as “freeters.” A third group consisted of young people who deferred choosing a profession because they were unsure what they wanted to do, also engaged in temporary work. They too called themselves “freeters.” According to surveys taken in recent years, the number of those who are “freeters” in the original sense of the word occupies no more than 10-20% of all young people. As this situation became evident, understanding of the “freeter” problem shifted from the attitudes of young people to employment difficulties (2006: 18-20).
The journal Why Freeter and NEET Are Misunderstood: Recognizing the New Precarious Conditions of Japanese Youth written by Akio Inui stated that the
freeter in Japan faces the pressures: from family and society since they are
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considered as “useless” due to the high standard of success among Japanese (2005: 44).
Japan’s erratic standard of success also triggers the marginalization of freeter. According to Gil Asakawa, started from the Age of Isolation in Taika Reform, standards of success are relative, whether to be a samurai, or servant of landlord. In Tokugawa era, a man’s success was judged by the size of his herd of cattle. In Edo era, when Japan opened their isolation towards the outer world, salary man and military are more respected than samurai/landlord. Nowadays, standard of success in Japan would have to be measured in wealth – not only how much money they make per year, but also to whom they work for (2004: 99). That is why by being a freeter people will be treated differently because they are failed to fulfill the Japanese’s standard of success.
3. Theory of Somatization Disorder (Early Aging)
Somatization disorder (also Briquet's disorder or, in antiquity, hysteria) is a psychiatric diagnosis applied to patients who persistently complain of varied physical symptoms that have no identifiable physical origin. One common general etiological explanation is that internal psychological conflicts are unconsciously expressed as physical signs. According to the book Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (forth edition) written by American Psychiatric
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misconnection between the mind and the body. Widely held theories on this troublesome, often familial disorder fit into three general categories.
The first and one of the oldest theories is that the symptoms of somatization disorder represent the body’s own defense against psychological stress. This theory states that the mind has a finite capacity to cope with stress and strain. Therefore, increasing social or emotional stresses beyond a certain point are experienced as physical symptoms, principally affecting the digestive, nervous, and reproductive systems. In recent years, researchers have found connections between the brain, immune system, and digestive system, which may be the reason why somatization affects those systems and that people with Irritable bowel syndrome are more likely to get somatization disorder. This theory also helps explain why depression is related to somatization.
The second theory for the cause of somatization disorder is that the disorder occurs due to heightened sensitivity to internal physical and mental sensations. Some people have the ability to feel even the slightest amount of discomfort or pain within their body. With this hypersensitivity, the patient would sense pain that the brain normally would not register in the average person such as minor changes in one's heartbeat. Somatization disorder would then be very closely related to panic disorder under this theory. However, not much is known about hypersensitivity and its relevance to somatization disorder. The psychological or physiological origins of hypersensitivity are still not well understood by experts.
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The third theory is that somatization disorder is caused by one’s own negative thoughts and overemphasized fears. Their catastrophic thinking about even the slightest ailments such as thinking a cramp in their shoulder is a tumor, or shortness of breath is due to asthma, could lead those who have somatization disorder to actually worsen their symptoms. This then causes them to feel more pain for just a simple thing like a headache. Often the patients feel like they have a rare disease. This is due to the fact that their doctors would not be able to have a medical explanation for their over-exaggerated pain that the patient actually thinks is there. This thinking that the symptom is catastrophic also often reduces the activities they normally do. They fear that doing activities that they would normally do on a regular basis would make the symptoms worse. The patient slowly stops doing activities one by one until they practically shut themselves from a normal life. With nothing else to do it leaves more time to think about the “rare disease” they have and consequently ending in greater stress and disability.
The most obvious symptoms of somatization disorder are hysteria, extremely deviated behavior such as banal laziness, and early aging (APA, 1994: 241-247).
4. Theory of Social Anxiety (Antropophobia)
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may be manifested in fears of blushing, meeting the gaze of the others, awkwardness and uneasiness when appearing in society, et cetera. A specific Japanese cultural form has been known as taijin kyofusho. Anthropophobia is a condition in which people experience unusual and often extreme difficulty with being around other people. This particular phobia goes beyond the more common fear of being in crowded social situations and extends to experiencing a great deal of discomfort even when with one other person. While some cases of the condition are relatively mild, other situations are so intense that the individual may choose to shut himself or herself away from any type of direct human contact, limiting their social interaction to handwritten letters and electronic communications. Skinner argued that even though phobia is created by outside factor such as environment or unpleasant past events, level of phobia could be increased due to several traumas, such as suicide attempt or exaggerated fears (1938 : 124-126).
5. Theory of Suicide
In the book written by a clergyman Doman Lum, Responding to Suicidal Crisis, suicide is the act of a human being intentionally causing his or her own
death. Suicide is often committed out of despair, or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, which includes depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug abuse. Financial difficulties, interpersonal relationships and other undesirable situations play a significant role. Socio-economic factors such as unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and discrimination may trigger suicidal
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thoughts. Poverty may not be a direct cause but it can increase the risk of suicide, as it is a major risk group for depression. Advocacy of suicide has sometimes been cited as a contributing factor. Intelligence may also factor. Initially proposed as a part of an evolutionary psychology explanation, which posited a minimum intelligence required for one to commit suicide, the positive correlation between IQ and suicide has been replicated in a number of studies. Some scientists doubt however that intelligence can be a cause of suicide, and the intelligence is no longer a predictor of suicide when regressed with national religiousness and perceptions of personal health (1974: 27-49).
6. Theory of Attribution (Social Psychology)
Attribution is a concept in social psychology referring to how individuals explain causes of events, other's behavior, and their own behavior. On his book, The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, Fritz Heider argued that, as an active
perceiver of the events, the average person continuously or spontaneously makes causal inferences on why the events occur. Eventually, these inferences become beliefs or expectations that allow the person to predict and understand the events that they observe and experience. As such, attribution theory is concerned with how individuals interpret events and how these interpretations relate to their continuous behavior
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examined by two internal factors: outside look and hidden obsession. Meanwhile when an external attribution is made, the cause of the given behavior is assigned to the situation in which the behavior was seen (that the individual producing the behavior did so because of the surrounding environment or the social situation). These two types of attribution lead to very different perceptions of the individual engaging in a behavior (personal is internal and situational is external).
There are six bias and errors in attribution, yet among those six bias and errors in attributions, the writer wants to examine the main character’s attribution with the self-serving attributions. These attributions are explanations for one’s own successes that credit internal, dispositional factors are explanations and explanations for one’s failures that blame external, situational factors. People tend to make attributions in line “bad things happen to bad people” and “good things happen to good people” in order to protect their self-esteem and prevent feeling vulnerable.
Defensive attributions are one type of self-serving attribution; they involve explanations for actions or outcomes that are made to avoid feelings of vulnerability and morality.
Unrealistic optimism is a form of defensive attribution in which people think that positive events are more likely to happen to them than to their peers, and that negative events are less likely to happen to them than to their peers.
Various explanations have been offered for prevalence of self-serving biases. One is a general motivational desire to maintain self-esteem. Another concern presentation in social relations, suggesting that we exercise
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serving attributions in order to maintain the perceptions others have of us. And a third is a more cognitive view, which is that, because people have information about their own behaviors in other situations in which they have had positive outcomes, this may lead to positive outcomes being expected and negative outcomes being unexpected.
Different cultures have different attribution tendencies. While there is some overlap, culture has a large affect on attribution heuristics. The term for this issue is dispositional attribution. It is the explanation of individual behavior as a result caused by internal characteristics that reside within individual, as opposed to outside (situational) influences that stem from the environment or culture in which that individual is found (1958: 98-102).
C. Theoretical Framework
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aimed to examine the symptoms that are experienced by the main character due to the freeter label he had. It will examine the relation of the main character with the society, and how the freeter status contributes to the main character’s anthropophobia.
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METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is a novel titled No Longer Human. A Nobel-awarded Japanese author, Osamu Dazai, wrote the novel. His real name was Shuji Tsushima, yet he used the name Osamu Dazai for all of his works. The novel No Longer Human is his last work, and is considered as his best. Many people think
that the novel is Dazai's own autobiography. “No Longer Human” paints the portrait of the life of Yozo, a troubled soul incapable of revealing his true self to others and who is instead forced to uphold a facade of hollow jocularity. The name of the main character, Yozo, is actually taken from one of Dazai's early works, Petals of Buffoonery.
No Longer Human was serialized as a work of fiction in 1948 and narrated
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Prologue, The First Notebook, The Second Notebook, The Third Notebook - Part 1, The Third Notebook - Part 2, and Epilogue.
The main character, Yozo, mostly represents the ‘psychological disturbance’ of the character in the novel. Overcome by an intense feeling of alienation and finding it nearly impossible to socialize with those who surround him, Yozo tried to set up interpersonal relationship and engage in a vain attempt to forget the abuse he had experienced during his childhood. Yozo becomes increasingly concerned over the potential penetrability of his cheerful facade. He neglects his university studies. Under the influence of a fellow artist he meets at a course, Horiki, he descends into a vicious cycle of drinking, smoking and harlotry, culminating in a one-night stand with a married woman with whom he intends to commit double suicide by drowning. Though he survives, she dies, leaving him with nothing but an excruciating feeling of guilt. Several years later, Yozo is expelled from university and falls into a relationship with a young and naïve woman. Yozo stops drinking and things seem to work out well until Horiki shows up, turning Yozo to self-destructivity again. Feeling distant from his wife, Yozo is once again driven to the verge of committing suicide, but unable to do so, he becomes an alcoholic and a morphine addict. He is eventually interned in a mental institution, and, upon release, moves to an isolated place, concluding the story with numb self-reflection (Keene, 1997: 76).
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B. Approach of the Study
The use of appropriate approach in analyzing the work is essential in order to have a fair analysis on the topic. Considering the topic of the study, which deals with the psychological aspect from the character, the writer tries to apply psychological approach to the work.
Jess Feist said on his book, The Theories of Personality that psychology literary criticism refers to literary criticism, which, in method, concept, theory, or form, is influenced by the tradition of psychoanalysis begun by Sigmund Freud. Psychological reading has been practiced since the early development of psychology itself, and has developed into a rich and heterogeneous interpretive tradition. The object of psychological literary criticism, at its very simplest, can be the psychology of the author or of a particularly interesting character. In this directly therapeutic form, it is very similar to psychoanalysis; closely following the analytic interpretive process discussed in Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. Therefore, considering the main character's psychological disturbance
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Whenever a person suffers from any disadvantages, his or her main aim becomes to bring those disadvantages to an end that makes him inferior to others. Those who are able to do this become successful in their lives on both social as well as individual bases. It is called as ‘compensation’.
There are those who give in to their disadvantages and become reconciled to them. Such people are in the majority. The attitude of the world towards them is of a cool, rather uninterested sympathy. It is called as ‘resignation’.
There are some persons who become so infatuated with the idea of compensating for their disadvantages that they end up over-indulging in the pursuit. These are the neurotics – and this is called as ‘over-compensation’.
Thus, the external factors are vital in character formation. Adler's views are not only refreshing but are now an indispensable part of all psychiatric treatments and therapies. Examples of psychologists and therapists who could be called ‘social psychologists’ in the sense of being Adlerian include Rudolf Dreikurs and Henry Stein (2006: 46-48).
Through that approach, the writer would like to apply the approach in analyzing main character's psychological disturbance due to the freeter label in the novel No Longer Human.
C. Method of the Study
The method that the writer used in this study was library research. In library research, reading and collecting data and information from certain books and other writings that support the subject matter of the research as the materials
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were done. However, to get more information related to the research, the writer browsed many websites. Some data were taken by considering their relevance, validity, accuracy, and appropriateness.
Alongside the primary data of the study that was the novel Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human, there are secondary data contains of some articles and views
used in the study which were taken from some books such as DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), Responding to Suicidal Crisis by
Doman Lum, encyclopedias, and reliable websites and journals.
In writing this research, the writer had done some steps. The first step was reading and understanding the novel so that the writer could comprehend the story and the details, which were essential in the process of writing the thesis. Secondly, the writer decided the topic to be discussed in this study, which was antropophobia due to the effect of freeter label, since the main character in the novel was described has a certain phobia due to the effect of tagging along with that label.
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factors why and how the freeter label contributes to the main character’s phobia. Afterwards, by using the theory of social anxiety and antropophobia, the writer then examined the symptoms undergone by the main character towards his dread of human being. The last step of this research was to summarize the discussion and conduct a conclusion.
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ANALYSIS
This chapter will be divided into two major parts – based on the problem formulation that written in the first chapter. This chapter also applies the theories written in second chapter and its methodology written in the third chapter to examine the object of the study, Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human.
Yozo, as the main character of the novel, will be the center point of the research. The first question in the problem formulation part will focus on the character and characterization of Yozo and why is he considered as one of the freeters through it. The character and characterization of Yozo will be the opening of the analysis, by divided into two parts: the physical characterization and non-physical characterization of Yozo in certain period. The writer believes that Yozo has character changing and development during his life, started from childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and middle age. So, the writer wants to divide the non-physical characterization into subdivisions according to those developments. Here, the writer also wants to put the idea why Yozo is considered as a freeter.
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A. The Characterization of Main Character (Yozo) 1. Physical Characterization of Yozo
Accorrding to M.J. Murphy, the characterization can be examined by the personal description/physical appearance and analyzing other character point of view or character as seen by another – character can be analyzed through another character’s sight and opinions to describe the character that the writer wants to expose. The prologue part of the novel where the man/woman who found Yozo’s diary (it is not stated clearly in the novel whether it is a man or woman) shows obviously the physical character of Yozo; from the childhood, adult, until middle age – since there were three photographs of Yozo inside his diary. The writer assumed that the prologue part of the novel is purposed to give the readers a brief description about whom and how the main character described is.
I have seen three pictures of the man.
The first, a childhood photograph you might call it, shows him about the age of ten, a small boy surrounded by a great women (his sisters and cousins, no doubt). He stands in brightly checked trousers by the edge of a garden pond. His head is tilted at an angle thirty degrees to the left, and his teeth are bared in an ugly smirk. Ugly? You may well question the word, for insensitive people (that is to say, those indifferent to matters of beauty and ugliness) would mechanically comment with a bland, vacuous expression, “What an adorable little boy!” It is quite true that what commonly passes for “adorable” is sufficiently present in this child’s face to give a modicum of meaning to the compliment. But I think that anyone who had ever been subjected to the least exposure to what makes for beauty would most likely toss the photograph to one side with the gesture employed in brushing away a caterpillar, and mutter in profound revulsion, “What a dreadful child!”
Indeed, the more carefully you examine the child’s smiling face the more you feel an indescribable, unspeakable, horror creeping over you. You see that it is actually not a smiling face at all. The boy has not a suggestion of a smile. Look at this tightly clenched fists if you want proof. No human being can smile with his fists doubled like that. It is a monkey. A grinning monkey-face. The smile is nothing more than a puckering of ugly
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same time so unclean and even nauseating, that your impulse to say, “What a wizened, hideous little boy!” I have never seen a child with such an unaccountable expression.
(Dazai, 2000: 13-14)
From the quotation above, Dazai gives a very clear physical condition of young Yozo. The author used words and phrases such as ‘ugly’, ‘dreadful’, ‘horror creeping over you’. Indeed, Yozo was very ugly, even the one who found the photographs said that it was a grinning monkey-face. Moreover, he/she mentioned that Yozo wasn’t counted as human being by doing a horrible smile with his fists doubled.
The comment of the second photograph describes clearly the physical condition of Yozo when he was in college days.
The face in the second snapshot is startlingly unlike the first. He is a student in this picture, although it is not clear whether it dates from high school or college days. At any rate, he is now extraordinarily handsome. But here again the face fails inexplicably to give the impression of belonging to a living human being. He wears a student’s uniform and a white handkerchief peeps from his legs crossed. Again he is smiling, this time not the wizened monkey’s grin but a rather adroit little smile. And yet somehow it is not the smile of a human being: it utterly lacks substance, all of what we might call the “heaviness of blood” or perhaps the “solidity of human life”—it has not even a bird’s weight. It is merely a blank sheet of paper, light as a feather, and it is smiling. The picture produces, in short, a sensation of complete artificiality. Pretense, insincerity, and fatuousness— none of these words quite covers it. And of course you couldn’t dismiss it simply as dandyism. In fact, if you look carefully you will begin to feel that there is something strangely unpleasant about this handsome young man. I have never seen a young man whose good looks were so baffling. (Dazai, 2000: 14-15)
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human being” and “there is something strangely unpleasant about this handsome young man”; it indicates that Yozo was overwhelmed by some kind of confusion and state of depression – later the writer will discuss it on the next part of the chapter.
Afterwards, there is one remaining photograph that depicting Yozo in his middle age. The remaining photograph is described on the last two paragraphs of the prologue part.
The remaining photograph is the most monstrous of all. It is quite impossible in this one even to guess the age, though the hair seems to be streaked somewhat with grey. It was taken in a corner of an extraordinarily dirty room (you can plainly see in the picture how the wall is crumbling in three places). His small hands are held in front of him. This time he is not smiling. There is no expression whatsoever. The picture has genuinely chilling, foreboding quality, as if it caught him in the act of dying as he sat before the camera, his hands held over a heater. That is not the only shocking thing about it. The head is shown quite large, and you can examine the features in detail: the forehead is average, the wrinkles on the forehead is average, the eyebrows also average, the eyes, the nose, the chin… the face is not merely devoid of expression, it fails even to leave a memory. It has no individuality. I have only to shut my eyes after looking at it to forget the face. I can remember the wall of the room, the little heater, but all impression of the face of the principal figure in the room is blotted out; I am unable to recall a single thing about it. This face could never be made the subject of a painting, not even of a cartoon. I open my eyes. There is not even the pleasure to recollecting: of course, that’s the kind of face it was! To state the matter in the extreme terms: when I open my eyes and look at the photograph a second time I still cannot remember it. Besides, it rubs against me the wrong way, and makes me feel so uncomfortable that in the end I want to avert my eyes.
I think that even a death mask would hold more of an expression, leave more memory. That effigy suggests nothing so much as a human body to which a horse’s head has been attached. Something ineffable makes the beholder shudder in distaste. I have never seen such an inscrutable face on a man.
(Dazai, 2000: 15-17)
Here, the founder of Yozo’s diary stated that in his middle age, Yozo turned into a
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atmosphere given by the founder and the author’s applied word and phrase such as “monstrous” and “inscrutable face” contributes readers to picture something grotesque about this man. Even, the founder addressed Yozo as an effigy – and it shows nothing but a face of a man with no expression sat inside a very wrecked room.
Those three photographs stated the physical characterization of Yozo from time to time. Dramatically changed in the shrt period of time; from the ugly child, to be an extraordinarily handsome man, and finally, become the man with old-looking face which gives horror towards the beholder. Corresponding to the theory of somatization disorder, Yozo suffered from the early aging due to the overemphasized fears. There were some factors that triggered Yozo’s early aging, and one of them is the freeter label. Reiko Kosugi’s journal, Youth Employment in Japan’s Economic Recovery: ‘Freeters’ and ‘NEETs’, stated that the physical
appearance of freeters somehow different: they look older than their actual age due to the psychological disturbance and social anxiety of being labeled as freeters (2006: 24).
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2. Non-Physical Character of Yozo in Certain Period a. Adolescence
The writer will start to examine the non-physical character of Yozo from the adolescence, since it was the time of Yozo’s first contact with drawing and painting, which later led him to become a freeter. The setting was when Yozo and his friend Takeichi discussed about a painting.
One day he came to my room to play. He was waving a brightly colored picture which he proudly displayed. “It’s a picture of a ghost,” he explained.
I was startled. That instant, as I could not help feeling in later years, determined my path of escape. I knew what Takeichi was showing me. I knew it was the only familiar self-portrait of van Gogh. When we were children the French Impressionist School was very popular in Japan, and our first introduction to an appreciation of Western painting most often began with such works. The paintings of van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Renoir were familiar even to students at country schools, mainly through photographic reproductions. I myself had seen quite a few colored photographs of van Gogh’s paintings. His brushwork and vividness of his colors had intrigued me, but I had never imagined his pictures to be ghosts. I took from my bookshelf a volume of Mondigliani reproductions, and showed Takeichi the familiar nudes with skin the color of burnished copper. “How about these? Do you suppose they’re ghosts too?”
“They’re terrific.” Takeichi widened his eyes in admiration. “This one looks like a horse out of hell.”
“They’re really ghosts then, aren’t they?”
“I wish I could paint pictures of ghost like that,” said Takeichi.
“I’m going to paint too. I’m going to paint pictures of devils and horses out of hell.” My voice as I spoke these words to Takeichi was lowered to a barely audible whisper, why I don’t know (Dazai, 2000: 53-54)
This obvious excitement on the sentences used by Yozo such as “I wish I could paint pictures of ghost like that” and “I was so excited I could have wept – I’m going to paint too. I’m going to paint pictures of devils and horses out of hell” clearly indicate his future goal: to be a painter – not to be a politician, which is Yozo’s father expected from him. Then he attended art class when he was in
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college, and it drawn Yozo closer to freeter status. He met Masao Horiki, which later introduced bad habits to Yozo, as seen in the quotation below:
Before long a student at the art class was to initiate me into the mysteries of drink, cigarettes, prostitutes, pawnshops and left-wing thought. A strange combination, but it actually happened that way (Dazai: 2000: 58) The surroundings were unfamiliar to me. I kept folding and unfolding my arms nervously, and my smiles now were really bashful. In the course of drinking two or three glasses of beer, however, I began to feel a strange lightness of liberation (Dazai, 2000: 59)
According to Reiko Kosugi, it is very common as a freeter to get drunk all night. This habit is created as an escapade for those who cannot face the standard created by society – in this context, Japanese society, that has high-standard of success; become a salary man such as doctor, lawyer, stakeholder, politician, et cetera. By drinking, they assume that the problems they had to face today somehow will be forgotten (Kosugi, 2006: 25).
b. Young Adulthood
For Yozo, the habit continued until his young adulthood. What he did gives reader a clearer assumption that he was a freeter. His addiction towards alcohol and his dependence of money to his family worsen his life day by day. Even he stopped attending the college as seen in the next quotation.
My father had giving me a fixed allowance for spending money each month. It would disappear in two or three days’ time…
The allowance disappeared in the customary two or three days, and I would be almost wild with fright and despair. I sent off barrages of telegrams begging for money of my father, my brothers and my sisters by turn…
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I had stopped attending classes and no longer devoted a minute of study to my courses…
My fondest wish was to drink myself into a sound stupor, but I hadn’t the money… (Dazai, 2000: 73-75)
Not only dependent to his family, Yozo started to be dependent on other people, which made him turn into ‘parasite of the society’ – a freeter. They are women who lived around Yozo. The first woman is the landlord’s daughter. Yozo took advantages of her by asking favors. The quotation below is one of the examples.
I thought up an errand for her to do. “Sorry to bother you, but would you mind going down to the drugstore and buying me some sleeping tablets? I’m over-exhausted. My face is burning so I can’t sleep. I’m sorry. And about the money…”
“That’s all right. Don’t worry about the money.” (Dazai, 2000: 75)
The second girl was Tsuneko (who afterwards decided to attempt suicide with Yozo, and the writer will examine about the suicidal case later on the second problem formulation). She was a hostess working at a café in Ginza, where Yozo and Horiki spent most of their time drinking there. Yozo relied on Tsuneko for paying the bill.
I felt I had imposed horrible bonds on myself. Gradually even the mundane fact that Tsuneko had paid the bill at the café began to weigh on me…
I was virtually without a penny, and my only hope was Tsuneko (Dazai, 2000: 83)
c. Middle Age
A person will be considered as a freeter when they do not have a clear goal towards their career (Kosugi, 2006: 28). Yozo experienced it as well. He felt uncertain whether his choice was right for him. Moreover, his goal to become a
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painter is considered as not even a job. Instead of trying to become a painter, desperately he went to further path of being a freeter.
…I should certainly become a great artist, failed to materialize.
I never managed to become anything more impressive than an unknown, second-rate cartoonist employed by the cheapest magazines.
I was expelled from college on account of the incident at Kamakura, and I went to live in a tiny room on the second floor of Flatfish’s house. I gathered that minute sums of money were remitted from home every month for my support, never directly to me, but secretly, to Flatfish. (They apparently were sent by my brothers without my father’s knowledge.) (Dazai, 2000: 97-98)
“If you won’t let me stay here in your house I’ll work…”
“Are you serious? Do you realize that nowadays even graduates of Tokyo Imperial University…”
“No. I wasn’t thinking of getting a job with a company.” “What then?”
“I want to be a painter.” I said this with conviction. “Wha-a-t?”
I can never forget the indescribably crafty shadows that passed over Flatfish’s face as he laughed at me, his neck drawn in. it resembled contempt, yet it was different: if the world, like the sea, had depths of a thousand fathoms, this was the kind of weird shadow which might be found hovering here and there at the bottom. It was a laugh which enabled me to catch a glimpse of the very nadir of adult life (Dazai, 2000: 104-105)
Here, the writer is able to see how the society (that in this context represented by Flatfish) reacts toward freeter – by laughing at Yozo’s goal to become a painter. Freeters are extremely underestimated by the society due to their dependency and blur goal of their life. Meanwhile, Japanese society demands jobs/goals that have brighter future.
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“Your comic strips are getting quite a reputation, aren’t they? There’s no competing with amateurs –they’re so foolhardy they don’t know when to be afraid. But don’t get overconfident. Your composition is still not worth a damn.” (Dazai, 2000: 118)
Horiki said that Yozo’s composition of the comic strip was not good, yet he admit that Yozo was incomparable with the amateurs. Horiki’s statement shows that Yozo was not a bad artist, yet he was not good either.
Moreover, being a freeter made Yozo was dragged into a vicious circle. He made his way becoming an artist (although it’s only a second-rate cartoonist in a cheapest magazine) – he could earn money, but it was spent for alcohol and cigarettes.
…Thanks also to Shizuko’s efforts, my cartoons began to produce a surprising amount of money. I bought liquor and cigarettes, as I had planned… (Dazai, 2000: 116)
Without a word, without a trace of smile, I spent one day after the next looking after Shigeko and drawing comic strip. Some of them so idiotic I couldn’t understand them myself, for the various firms which commissioned them. (Orders had gradually started coming in from other publishers, all of an even lower class than Shizuko’s company –third-rate publishers; I suppose they’d be called.) I drew with extremely, excessively depressed emotions, deliberately penning each line, only to earn money for drink. When Shizuko came home from work I would dash out as if in relay with her, and head for the outdoor booths near the station to drink cheap, strong liquor (Dazai, 2000: 121)
Again, due to trapped in vicious circle, Yozo repeated his former habits: taking advantage at the woman for money. This time, the victim was Shizuko, the journalist who gave Yozo a job as a cartoonist.
A year had passed since I first came to her apartment and smiled bitterly at the torn kite. One day, along when the cherry trees were going to leaf, I stole some of Shizuko’s underrobes and sashes, and took them to a pawnshop. I usedthe money they gave me to go drinking on the Ginza (Dazai, 2000: 123)
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Actually, Yozo himself was aware that what he had become was wrong. It is shown when he got drunk with Horiki on the roof, played guessing game of tragic and comic nouns. Yozo himself, based on the proposition that just as nouns could be divided into masculine, feminine, or neuter, so there was a distinction between tragic and comic nouns, invented this game.
“Bravo! Then life must be tragic?” “Wrong. It’s comic, too.”
“In that case everything becomes comic. Here’s one more for you. What about cartoonist? You couldn’t possibly call it a comic noun, could you?” “Tragic. An extremely tragic noun.” (Dazai, 2000: 142)
The writer perceives obviously that Yozo himself realize that becoming a freeter would put his life and honor at stake. He considered cartoonist as an extremely tragic noun. Thus, he affirmed himself that he was a freeter, and he actually knew the consequence by being a freeter.
Again, the vicious circle goes to Yozo’s life. He became parasite towards society. Besides still relied on Flatfish’s money, Yozo became addicted to morphine, and took advantage to the pharmacist woman. He convinced the woman to give a box full of morphine, and he became a junkie.
At the end of the notebook, he wrote: Everything passes.
This year I am twenty-seven. My hair has become much greyer. Most people would take me for over forty (Dazai, 2000: 170)
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B. The Contribution of Freeter Label Towards Yozo’s Anthropophobia In the first part of the analysis above, the writer of this research has found out how the main character in the story (Yozo) is described and labeled as a freeter. He became a parasite towards his surrounding. During the time of his young adulthood, he still relied on his father’s allowance to live the life – and was spent within a blink of an eye. He even stopped attending school. He worked, but his salary was not enough to fulfill his escapades: cigarettes, liquors, and drugs. Moreover, his job as a second-rate cartoonist was not considered as a job in his society. The writer wants to examine how the freeter label gives contribution towards Yozo’s anthropophobia. In general, Yozo’s anthropophobia was caused by shame due to the freeter label which is considered as parasite, or, useless creature in Japanese society that has high-standard of success. As stated by B.F. Skinner, anthropophobia can occur when someone has extreme, pathological feeling of shyness and timidness caused by his/her disability to maintain the same ‘level’ with the others (1938: 126). In this case, Yozo cannot keep up with the society by being a freeter. Due to this label, Yozo’s characterization developed into serious phobia, anthropophobia – the dread of human being.
Yozo himself was a freeter and he was aware of that. On the other hand, Japanese society has a high standard of success. His job as a second-rate cartoonist was not enough to keep up with what society demanded. That is why the society labeled him as a freeter, which gave Yozo huge pressure and depression, as seen on the first problem formulation that he suffered from somatization disorder, which gave him an older look than his actual age due to a
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mental disturbance caused by freeter label. His bad habits also gave the contribution why the society labeled him as a freeter as well.
The writer wants to examine this development by using several methods. The writer desires to examine the state of Yozo’s social psychology by using attribution. The attribution itself is divided into two: personal (internal) attribution, and situational (external) attribution. By using attribution, later the writer wants to reveal how attribution toward freeter label gives contribution to Yozo’s anthropophobia.
In social psychology, Fritz Heider argued that as an active perceiver of the events, the average person continuously or spontaneously makes causal inferences on why the events occur. Eventually, these inferences become beliefs or expectations that allow the person to predict and understand the events that they observe and experience. As such, attribution theory is concerned with how individuals interpret events and how these interpretations relate to their continuous behavior.
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engaging in a behavior – personal is internal and situational is external (1958: 110-115) .
1. Personal (Internal) Attribution of Yozo
Heider argued that internal attribution is made when the cause of the given behavior is assigned to the individual’s personality, attitudes, character or disposition (1958: 103). Therefore, the writer claims that the cause of the given behavior here is the society’s oppressions towards Yozo’s burden due to the freeter label. He felt so inferior because he could not keep up with the society’s standard of living. Yozo’s unremitting shame assigned to his personality. Thus, he made the self-defense mechanism. Heider said that internal attribution could be examined by looking at two aspects: “outside look” of a person and the hidden obsession.
a. Outside Look
Actually, the prospective of Yozo suffered from anthropophobia can be seen from the way he acted was closer to his outside-look rather than his true self. As Heider stated, the shown-side of one’s personality to the world is designed as outside-look. Heider argued that every individual must projects a specific role – something that what society is dictated to us. Even though outside look is needed by one’s personality, but one cannot mix the outside look with the idealism within. If we identified ourselves closer to the outside look, we will not be able to recognize our individuality, and will be prevented to achieve self-realization. It is
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true that one has to give appreciation towards society by following its rules and orders. However, if one is too identical with his/her outside look, then he/she will lose contact with the idealism within, and will always be dependent to the surrounding (1958: 124).
As labeled as a freeter, the society gave a huge pressure towards Yozo. He himself was a disgrace towards his surrounding. That is why he tried to make a outside look in order to escape from his true self. In this case, Yozo created his outside look as a jester. It can be seen in the quotation below.
All I feel are the assaults of apprehension and terror at the thought that I am the only person who is entirely unlike the rest. It is almost impossible for me to converse with other people. What should I talk about, how should I say it? – I don’t know.
This was how I happened to invent my clowning.
It was the last quest for love I was to direct at human beings. Although I had a mortal dread of human beings I seemed quite unable to renounce their society. I managed to maintain on the surface a smile which never deserted my lips; this was the accommodation I offered to others, a most precarious achievement performed by me only at the cost of excruciating efforts within (Dazai, 2000: 26)
The quotation above shows that Yozo was aware about his outside look, clowning. He tried to escape from his true self as a freeter and become the jester, though he had a contradiction within – he was forced to create the outside look to satisfy the society. From the quotation, it is obvious that Yozo himself did not like to do such thing. Here are the examples of Yozo’s clowning in front of his friends and his family.
