The Setting Sun - Osamu Dazai

Set in post-war Japan, The Setting Sun tackles the existential dread of an aristocratic family whose prestige slowly erodes away in Japanese society. The story is centered on a female protagonist, Kazuko. After her divorce, Kazuko returns to live with her mother. As her mother’s health deteriorates, Kazuko starts to lose meaning in her life; For it is this relationship that defines her life. Soon, she enters the existentialist world where she can no longer derive meaning from other people. Ironically, the freedom given to her by her mother’s death (she no longer is binded to anyone) becomes her existential anxiety.

Another interesting character is her brother, Naoji who is a soldier in the Pacific theater. The war has stolen away his innocence and faith in the world.

“When I pretended to be precocious, people started the rumor that I was precocious. When I acted like an idler, rumor had it I was an idler. When I pretended I couldn’t write a novel, people said I couldn’t write. When I acted like a liar, they called me a liar. When I acted like a rich man, they started the rumor I was rich. When I feigned indifference, they classed me as the indifferent type. But when I inadvertently groaned because I was really in pain, they started the rumor that I was faking suffering. The world is out of joint.”

The combination of wartime dread and contradicting collective mindset leave Naoji confused. Also, because his life has been guided by the collective nature of Japan, he was disillusioned when he was finally free from the war. This freedom, I believe, also contributes to his decision to commit suicide. There is no point for him to live anymore as he can no longer see any purpose that the collective has given him. It is a suicide in a country and an era that lack a purpose.

Kazuko goes on to live with immorality has the guiding principle for her life. She has a baby with a married novelist, Mr. Uehara, and decides to raise his baby on her own. “Man was born for love and revolution,” she thinks. The revolution is against the old moralist Japan that lost its authenticity with its defeat in the war.

In his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, French novelist Albert Camus questions whether a meaningless world require suicide? Naoji chooses to commit suicide. Kazuko chooses to live. Whether one can go on to live in this sort of world all depends on one’s own ideals that one has set up for oneself. Through the belief in love and immorality, Kazuko finds meaning in the meaningless world.