The Setting Sun
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The Setting Sun (斜陽 Shayō?) is a Japanese novel by Osamu Dazai. It was published in 1947 and is set in Japan after World War II. The principal characters are the siblings Kazuko and Naoji, and their mother. Another principal character is Uehara Jiro, a drunken author. The Setting Sun deals with the themes of class, war, suicide, death, and morality. As the characters are quite self-composed, a significant portion of their development is to be found in letters and journals. The novel's characters are "victims of a transitional period in morality." A disparity between Western and Japanese culture mirrors the conflict between Japan and the United States.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
[edit] Motifs
The novel has several recurring motifs:
- Seasons - Kazuko and her mother discuss which season a person will die in based on what flowers are their favourite; seasons are commonly used in literature as a metaphor for the phases of life.
- Fire - Kazuko burns the snake eggs in the first chapter, "Snake." She accidentally sets fire to the wood pile in the second chapter, "Fire." Finally, she writes in her letters of a fire in her breast. Hence, fire symbolizes a potential for wanton destruction as well as fervent desire.
- Snakes - They are incorporated into circumstances of death and corruption. Kazuko recounts that a snake was present at her father's death, and during the decline in her mother's health one is to be found on the steps. Lastly, Kazuko says that a snake has crawled into her breast; snakes symbolize Kazuko's anxiety.
- Religion - The "Outbreak of Hostilities" is prefaced by a passage from the Bible.
- Oceans - Kazuko uses the sea as a metaphor for the future, with her life as a sailing ship.
[edit] Characters
- Mother - Naoji considers his mother to be the last genuine aristocrat. She and her daughter rely on Uncle Wada for monetary support, and when Uncle Wada's support decreases they move from Tokyo to the country. Kazuko's mother is part of a fading aristocracy, and her death from Tuberculosis parallels the fall of the old-fashioned upper class.
- Kazuko - She is the protagonist, anxious and occasionally secretive. She constantly chides herself for mother's decline. She sometimes speaks rashly and is extremely self conscious about it. Her letters to Uehara are grandiose and poetic.
- Naoji - Kazuko's brother, just returned from the war. In contrast to Kazuko's letters, always hopeful for the future, Naoji's journal writings are cynical and frenetic. Each of the siblings has an ineffective treatment for mother's illness, which serves to contrast the two: Kazuko's plan (to prepare good food for her mother) is pleasurable to mother, while Naoji proposes an uncomfortable "aesthetic treatment." Finally, even as Kazuko yearns to give life in making her upper-class dignity perish, Naoji commits suicide.
- Uehara Jiro - A married author who is fond of sake. Sneezing is "a barometer of [his] intoxication." Kazuko seeks him out for her lover.
