𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐚. | 𝖽𝖺𝗓𝖺𝗂 𝗈𝗌𝖺𝗆𝗎

ii. is Dazai wearing masks? is he fake?

as someone has read a lot of Dazai's works and is probably more caught up on the manga, do think ada Dazai isn't real? in what ways could he be genuine? do you think wanting to be around kind people (Oda, Ango) is proof of anything? i feel like saying era or the other is fake is a bit black and white. or maybe that Dazai has always pretended in some way. or this could mean viewers find it easier to accept negative traits as 'real' and positive as false. what do you/i think of ada Dazai?

this is a very interesting question, anon! i've come across a lot of different interpretations of Dazai's character and you can take it many different ways, but i am sure that there is a real side to Dazai that makes an appearance every once in a while. yes, i do think he is wearing a mask as a mafia executive and as a member of the ada. the mask is different for each because he has a different role, goal, and is in a completely different situation. my general view is that Dazai's blank/unfeeling face would be more of his true self, but that there are a select few who he can relax around and let more of himself show without the different masks.

first i'll start with a few quotes from Dazai's writing that make me think that he does hide who he really is, even from the people he is closest to:

"Though I have always made it my practice to be pleasant to everybody, I have not once actually experienced friendship. I have only the most painful recollections of my various acquaintances with the exception of such companions in pleasure as Horiki. I have frantically played the clown in order to disentangle myself from these painful relationships, only to wear myself out as a result. Even now it comes as a shock if by chance I notice in the street a face resembling someone I know however slightly, and I am at once seized by a shivering violent enough to make me dizzy. I know that I am liked by other people, but I seem to be deficient in the faculty to love others. (I should add that I have very strong doubts as to whether even human beings really possess this faculty.) It was hardly to be expected that someone like myself could ever develop any close friendships - besides, I lacked even the ability to pay visits. The front door of another person's house terrified me more than the gate of Inferno in the Divine Comedy, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I really felt I could detect within the door the presence of a horrible dragon-like monster writhing there with a dank, raw smell."
ㅡ (No Longer Human, p 107-8).

"When I'm at home, I'm forever making jokes. Let's say it's a case of needing to wear Dante's 'mask of merriment' precisely because there are so many things that trigger the 'anguish in the heart.' Actually though, it's not only when I'm home. Whenever I'm with people, no matter how great my mental or physical suffering, I try desperately to create a happy atmosphere. It's only when I'm with people. It's the same when I'm writing. when I'm feeling down, I make an effort to write light, enjoyable stories. My only intention in doing so is to render the greatest possible service to m readers, but there are those who don't understand this. 'That Dazai fellow's awfully frivolous these days,' they sneer. 'He tries to garner readers simply by being amusing; he doesn't put any effort into his writing at all.' Is there something evil about serving people? Is putting on airs, never cracking a smile, such a virtuous thing?" ("Cherries")

"I thought, "As long as I can make them laugh, it doesn't matter how, I'll be alright. If I succeed in that, the human beings probably won't mind it too much if I remain outside their lives. The one thing I must avoid is becoming offensive in their eyes: I shall be nothing, the wind, the sky." My activities as jester, a role born of desperation, were
extended even to the servants, whom I feared
even more than my family because I found
them incomprehensible."
ㅡ (No Longer Human, p 28-9)

"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."
ㅡ (The Setting Sun)