How Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai reflects a girl’s struggle

Schoolgirl: a novel that embodies the struggles of Japanese teenage girls searching for a sense of identity and freedom.

Written in 1938 by the famous Japanese writer Osamu Dazai, and narrated by a teenager, Schoolgirl is a novella that captures the melancholic life of a young Japanese girl, on a normal school day. However, not only does it depict her mental and emotional challenges, but it accentuates the social pressure women had faced during post-war times and still face today. By that means, as the reader dives into the teenager’s narration, he/she will discover the hidden pain of teenage girls during the 1930s.

A story of pain:

Throughout the novella, Osamu Dazai tackles the mind of a teenage girl in her day-to-day life. The story starts off with the girl, waking up from her slumber and describing her mornings to be dull: “Mornings are grey. Always the same. Absolutely empty. […] It’s awful really. All kinds of terrible regrets converge at once in my mind, and my heart stops up as I writhe in agony” (p.17). These few sentences hint the life of the narrator: a life in which she struggles to find joy, indicating her challenges with depression.

By that means, the story proceeds with her thoughts ravaging her mind, worsening her emotional instability. This is shown by the intense use of opposing expressions, found all over the book. For instance, when she questions the purpose of the present. Happy to have found a meaning behind it all, the teenager contradicts her sayings by implying that she’s “a little too happy” (p.48). Therefore, the little girl is conflicted between her true self and her socially forged identity.

In addition, with the physical and emotional absence of her family, she hardly gets herself out of her saddening mindset. This aspect of her life is depicted by her mother ignoring her questionings as a child, causing the teenage girl to bottle up any ounce of emotion: “When I was little, when my feelings about something were completely different from others, I always used to ask Mother, “why is that?” At those times, Mother would dismiss me with a word and be angry. Bad girl! What’s wrong with you? She’d sadly say […] Then as I gradually got older, I grew timid” (p.42). In a Freudian way of thinking, we can now deduce that her dichotomous personality is a conflict between her ego who masks her true self, and her id who fights for who she really is.

Thus, throughout the reading, we notice the struggles of all teenage girls not being able to handle change and growth. As an example, we can see how the narrator mentions her times as a child, where her late father would be present with her, as well as her sister who had moved out with her husband. The teenage girl is finally realizing that she no longer is a child and has no one to take care of her anymore. This leads her to a fall deeper in her depressive hole, since loneliness is the fruit of depression: “It makes me want to call out for Mother and Father” (p.47). 

Consequently, Osamu Dazai depicts the universal experience of teenagers in the 1930s, a time when women’s emotions and thoughts were never considered, hence the following analysis.

A world against women:

Not only did the Japanese writer narrate the emotional obstacles teenage girls face, but he also relates the social pressure and injustice during post-war times, making women the complex humans they are.

As the reader goes through the mind of the main character, he/she uncovers the struggles of embracing femininity. This is first introduced by the schoolgirl’s reflection on religion, in which she says, “But the idea of a female Jesus seems appalling” (p.28).

Furthermore, multiple instances depict teenagers’ internal conflict between acceptance and utter disgust. For instance, when it comes to the woman sitting next to her during a train ride, her concerning, yet horrifying thoughts, creep up over the woman’s imperfections: “she had a pretty face but there were dark wrinkles on her neck ad her coarseness made me want to hit her with disgust” (p.43).

This same attitude continues throughout the book with the encounter of another “imperfect” woman on her way back home. Through a schoolgirl’s mind, Osamu Dazai reveals the struggles of being imperfect as a woman, calling out society’s pressure on women.

Yet, the schoolgirl faces many contradictory events during her day, where she manifests some sort of feminism. When talking about her teacher, Miss Kusogi, the young girl says: “I would like this teacher a whole lot more if she weren’t “composed” (p.48). Hence, the narrator is seen to be unconsciously fighting social standards, switching between the criticism and acceptance of female imperfections.

By that means, while the reader dives into the spiraling thoughts narrated, women discover themselves through the agonizing pain of a schoolgirl.