The Setting Sun: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Setting Sun" is a poignant exploration of familial dynamics and the impact of societal change on individual identities, set against the backdrop of postwar Japan. The narrative is centered on Kazuko, a 29-year-old woman whose aristocratic family is struggling to adapt to a new reality after the war. Living with her elegant but financially inept mother, Kazuko grapples with feelings of helplessness and desperation, particularly as she faces the emotional turmoil of her brother Naoji's struggles and her mother's declining health. Naoji, a frustrated writer, battles his own fears and failures, leading him to substance abuse, ultimately culminating in tragedy. Their mother, a relic of a bygone era, is portrayed as unable to navigate the changing world around her, relying heavily on her brother Wada, who is portrayed as selfish and unsympathetic. Uehara, a disillusioned novelist, becomes a complicated figure in Kazuko's life, representing both escape and entrapment. Through these characters, the story delves into themes of loss, dependency, and the search for identity amidst societal disintegration.
The Setting Sun: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Osamu Dazai
First published: Shayo, 1947 (English translation, 1956)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Tokyo and a country house in Izu
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: Shortly after World War II
Kazuko, the narrator, a twenty-nine-year-old woman living with her mother. She is from an aristocratic family whose fortunes are dwindling, and she is well-educated in Western culture. She sees herself as a victim. After her marriage ended in divorce, she returned home to live with her mother. She idolizes her mother's elegant manners but, like her mother, is helpless in handling finances. After leaving their Tokyo estate and servants for a humbler life in the country, Kazuko and her mother await the return of Naoji, Kazuko's brother. Kazuko becomes hysterical over her mother's waning health and favoritism of Naoji. She sends frantic love letters to a dissolute writer, Uehara, and eventually pursues him in Tokyo to achieve her purpose of becoming pregnant.
Naoji, her brother, a frustrated writer. He is fearful of everyone. As a student, his aristocratic background was a burden. As a soldier in a losing war, he felt despair that led him to opium. He rationalized that under the effects of drugs he could become friendly and brutal like the common people. The pose of being coarse never won people's approval and never quelled his innate sensibilities. He ruthlessly impoverishes his mother and sister to pretend to start a publishing business. He even fails at declaring his love for a married woman. His mother's death overwhelms him with guilt. In the end, he commits suicide.
The mother of Kazuko and Naoji, an aristocratic lady. A creature from an obsolete society, she knows only how to comport herself; she understands nothing of finances or survival in the postwar world. She is dependent on her brother, Wada, to make important decisions about how and where she will live. She never questions the actions of her brother or her son, Naoji, whom she favors over Kazuko. When she falls ill, she abandons the fight to keep on living and dies docilely and quickly.
Uehara, a debauched novelist who becomes Kazuko's lover. He is a friend of Naoji and transmits money from Kazuko to her brother. Uehara leads a dissolute life but criticizes Naoji for not substituting alcohol for drugs, as he himself has done. He is a farmer's son who became educated but is cynical about life. Although he does not reply to Kazuko's love letters, he cannot resist her when she seeks him out in Tokyo.
Uncle Wada, the mother's younger brother who manages the family finances. He is a miser who shows little sympathy for his dying sister or her children. He will not even observe his sister's death with the traditional mourning ceremony, yet he feels righteous in his stern lecture to Kazuko on how she should live.