Can two books written in different centuries and places be alike and distinct in many ways? They can, and this is the case of No Longer Human by Dazai Osamu, a best-selling 20th-century Japanese writer, and Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky, a significant Russian 19th-century author. The popular Japanese book details Oba Yozo’s lifelong struggles with abuse, alienation, and self-acceptance, while the Russian novella is essentially the monologue or ramblings of a bitter, isolated, and unnamed narrator. Despite having entirely contrasting settings, these two books can have similarities along with differences. 

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On the one hand, the main characters in the two books, Oba Yozo from No Longer Human and The Underground man from Notes from Underground, are nihilists and feel alienated from society. Firstly, this is evident when Yozo mentions, “People talk of social outcasts. The words denote the miserable losers of the world, the vicious ones, but I feel as though I have been a “social outcast” from the moment I was born." In the previous quote, he describes how he has always felt like a misfit. Furthermore, there is evidence of alienation from the protagonist in Dostoevsky’s novel since he says, “I am alone and they are everyone," as he refers to society as “everyone” but does not include himself in that category. As a cause, many consider that they are both nihilists, which is a person who believes that life is meaningless and rejects all religious and moral principles. Yozo declares he is a nihilist when he announces, “Whenever I was asked what I wanted my first impulse was to answer nothing. The thought went through my mind that it did not make any difference, that nothing was going to make me happy.” This quote refers to how he thinks every experience of his life is pointless, meaning he substantially sees life as useless. The evidence of the protagonist from Notes from Underground being a nihilist is that he claims that “I could never stand more than three months of dreaming at a time without feeling an irresistible desire to plunge into society.” 

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In addition to this, the protagonists, Yozo and the Underground man have two similar concepts in common, which are depression and too much awareness of themselves. Precisely, No Longer Human is an accurate depiction of true depression and anxiety. Interestingly the story is told through an unusual device that is the protagonist’s journal. Some clear evidence of Yozo’s depression is when he mentions, “Whenever I thought of my situation I sank all the deeper in my depression, and I lost all my energy.” In the previous quote, he describes how his dependence on Shizuko, his current partner, particularly for money, depressed him severely. Comparably, the Underground man also possessed a great depression since he once remarked, “My wretched passions were acute, smarting, from my continual, sickly irritability I had hysterical impulses, with tears and convulsions… I was overwhelmed with depression, too.” Additionally, in regards to too much consciousness, the underground man understandably declares within the first few pages, “I was conscious every moment in myself of many, very many elements opposite to that.” While in No Longer Human, Yozo compares himself between him and Horiki, his newfound friend, when he says, “At the same time there was a basic difference in us: he operated without consciousness.”

 

Besides, in both novels, the protagonists use women, especially prostitutes, for a moment of human connection and then start treating them cruelly. The underground man says, "They won’t let me … I can’t be good!” I managed to articulate; then I went to the sofa, fell on it face downwards, and sobbed on it for a quarter of an hour in genuine hysterics. She came close to me, put her arms around me, and stayed motionless in that position.” In this quote, the underground man tries to describe how he feels to Liza, a prostitute, then has a breakdown, and she comforts him. Later in the novel, however, he starts acting rude to her and begins calling her unkind names. Likewise, in No Longer Human, Yozo says, “I never could think of prostitutes as human beings or even as women. They seemed more like imbeciles or lunatics. But in their arms, I felt absolute security. I could sleep soundly.” His definite misogynistic views are demonstrated, and, in the end, he mentions he felt comfortable with these women, as he felt some intimacy. Later on this page, he explains how he thinks of them as “lunatics” because they give “friendliness with no ulterior motive.”   

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Two of the last similarities between No Longer Human and Notes from Underground are that the protagonists are also the narrator, which, in both cases, is first-person unreliable. A narrator is a person telling the story, and it determines the point of view that the audience will experience, and, in this case, it is a character in the story. On the other hand, the reader realizes Yozo is an unreliable narrator when Yozo frequently makes claims about himself and others that are contradicted elsewhere in the book. For example, he describes himself as always being sympathetic to “social outcasts”, yet his narration treats Takeichi, an ugly and unpopular classmate, the same way everybody else does, cruelly. As well as the Underground Man, who within the first few pages, lies to the reader since, at first, he claims he was a wicked official, but, in the next paragraph, accepts that he was not since he was never able to become wicked as he was conscious of every action. Lastly, he declares he lied out of wickedness.

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In contrast, there are many differences between No Longer Human and Notes from Underground, but the most evident one is the setting, which is the place or type of surroundings where something is- located or where an event takes place. On the one hand, Notes from the Underground was first published in Russian as Zapiski iz podpolya in 1864. The first edition of Notes from Underground was published in Russian, and there have been several translations into English over the years but the first one was written in 1913 by CJ Hogarth. On the other hand, No Longer Human, a novel by Dazai Osamu, was first published in Japanese as Ningen Shikkaku in 1948. It was first translated into English by Donald Keene in 1958.

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On top of that, there are many differences between the protagonists, like whether their identity is known or not. Firstly, although Notes from Underground is in the first-person narrative, the I is never really discovered. Never in the book is the identity of the protagonist mentioned, nor is his childhood or past. The first part is only a monologue, where the underground man expresses his thoughts, opinions, and feelings. Whereas the second part is about his connection and relationships with other people and how socially awkward he is. Instead, No Longer Human’s protagonist is Yozo. He appears as a complicated man with plenty of problems in his life. His issues grow to be even more complex when he enters adulthood. He becomes skeptical of other people and drowns himself in alcohol, which later only increases his pain, both mentally and economically. Subsequently, the reader is introduced to Yozo’s past trauma and the consequences of it during his adulthood. Lastly, there is a balanced sum of content with Yozo socializing and Yozo monologuing.

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What’s more, another difference between the main characters, Yozo and the Underground man, is how they address the audience and the methods by which they protect themselves. Firstly, the underground man often refers to or addresses his audience, the reader. He also refers to them as ‘Gentlemen.’ For example, he often says, “You no doubt think, gentleman, that I want to make you laugh?” Conversely, Yozo never actually refers to his audience. Moreover, another difference is that to protect himself, the underground man prefers to isolate himself in the so-called “Underground.” Therefore, instead of solving his social issues, he prefers to run away from them. Differently, to protect himself, Yozo creates a facade as a 'jokester' or 'class-clown' so that he can distance his true self from others. Consequently, instead of solving his issues, he prefers to hide them. 

 

Lastly, the final differences between the two books are their style and addiction as a theme. On the one hand, No Longer Human is a semi-autobiographical book, but many consider it “a barely fictionalized autobiography." (Keene, Donald in 1950) Also, detail after detail is delivered from the individual experience of Osamu Dazai himself. For instance, the frustration Oba Yozo experienced with University is very akin to Dazai’s as they were both expelled. In No Longer Human, Oba says, “I was expelled from college on account of the incident at Kamakura.” The incident at Kamakura refers to a failed suicide attempt with Tsuneko, a well-known bar hostess. Dazai, nine days after being expelled from Tokyo Imperial University, attempted suicide by drowning off a beach in Kamakura with a woman, 19-year-old bar hostess Shimeko Tanabe, who died while he survived. Therefore, these two have had corresponding experiences concerning college. On the other hand, Notes from Underground is not an autobiographical novel, as Dostoevsky only had one semi-autobiographical book, which was The house of the dead. This work expressed the author's desperation when he was incarcerated for crimes against the security of the State. Lastly, Notes from Underground does not deal with or discuss any addiction, while No Longer Human tackles the issue of drug addiction and alcohol addiction. It explores both of these themes in the main character, Yozo oba. Two quotes that are evidence of this are, “By the time I had come to realize acutely that drugs were as abominable, as foul—no, fouler—than gin, I had already become an out-and-out addict,” and, “For one thing, I was just at the stage where I had come to feel the squalor of drunkenness, and I was overjoyed to be able to escape after such long bondage to the devil called alcohol.” 

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In conclusion, after all the previous established points, it is utterly clear that No Longer Human and Notes from Underground have many similarities and differences. Additionally, most of the similitudes are concerning the main characters of the novels, and the main difference is the setting. The similarities are evident throughout the books, and the surrounding is different as they are both set in different time frames and locations. Therefore, people should be aware that these two novels have similarities but are also very different. 

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