The Significance of freeter label towards antropophobia experienced by the main character as seen in Osamu Dazai`s No Longer Human - USD Repository
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FREETER LABEL TOWARDS ANTROPOPHOBIA EXPERIENCED BY THE MAIN CHARACTER AS SEEN IN OSAMU DAZAI’S NO LONGER HUMAN AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By Aditya Surya Putra
Student number: 05 4214 018
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY 2011
MOTTO
“There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.”
~ Carl Gustav Jung.
“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.” ~ Buddha.
… for Goddess Sarasvat
ī.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to give my greatest gratitude to my parents, Papa Drajad and Mamih Tuty for encouraging and supporting me unconditionally to finish this undergraduate thesis. My thankfulness also goes to my brother Akbar and my sister Annin for their precious undergirds during my hardest times. For Maria Maya Aristya, this undergraduate thesis would not be done if she were not sacrificing her hours just for accompanying me in good and bad times.
I would like to thank my advisor, Mrs. Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. Her help, guidance and patience along the process of this writing have been very contributing. Without her patience for check and recheck my thesis, there would be many mistakes made. I also thank Mr. Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A. as my reader.
Next, I would like to thank all of the people in Lidahibu, especially the editor in chief Wahyu Adi Putra Ginting for the discussions, his help and advices to conduct this thesis. For Fizma Andrea Nishkra, I would not have had any idea about the thing written in this thesis without earlier discussions with her if she did not patiently teach me about structuralism and other theories, even though the lessons were given via Skype. I also thank Alwi Atma Ardhana, Ko Ing San, and Riris for their creative times in Bangkai Kepiting and Equinox.
Last but not least, I would give my kudos to the friends and co-workers in the play performance class Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Capital Life Photo, Vesper Net, Lens Club and all of people that I could not mention one by one, who directly or indirectly have contributed to the completion of this undergraduate thesis.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ……………………………………………………………………i
APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………………….ii
ACCPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………………...iii
MOTTO PAGE …………………………………………………………………iv
DEDICATION PAGE …………………………………………………………...v
Lembar Pernyataan Persetujuan Publikasi Karya Ilmiah…………………...vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………………………………………………..vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………..viii
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………...x
ABSTRAK ………………………………………………………………………xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………....1
A. Backgroud of the Study ………………………………………………......1 B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………………..4 C. Objectives of the Study …………………………………………………...4 D. Definition of Terms ……………………………………………………….5CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW …………………………………...7
A. Review of Related Studies ………………………………………………..7 B. Review of Related Theories ………………………………………………91. Theory of Character and Characterization ………………………..…..9
2. View on Freeter ……………………………………………………...12
3. Theory of Somatization (Early Aging) …………………………...…14
4. Theory of Social Anxiety (Anthropophobia) ………………………..16
5. Theory of Suicide ……………………………………………………17
6. Theory of Attribution ………………………………………………..18
C. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………………….20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY …………………………………………..22
A. Object of Study ………………………………………………………….22 B. Approach of the Study …………………………………………………..24 C. Method of the Study ……………………………………………………..25CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS …………………………………………………...28
A. The Characterization of Main Character (Yozo) ………………………..291. Physical Characterization of Yozo ………………………………….29
2. Non-Physical Characterization of Yozo in Certain Period…………..33
a. Adolescence ……………………………………………………..33
b. Young Adulthood ………………………………………………..34
c. Middle Age ……………………………………………………...35
B. The Contribution of Freeter Label Towards Yozo’s Anthropophobia … 39
1. Personal (Internal) Attribution of Yozo ……………………………..41
a. Outside Look …………………………………………………….41
b. Hidden Obsession ……………………………………………… 44
c. Bias and Error in Attribution ……………………………………45
2. Situational (External) Attribution …………………………………...47
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………………………………………………..51
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………...54APPENDICES ………………………………………………………………….56
ABSTRACT
Aditya Surya Putra. The Significance of Freeter Label Towards Anthropophobia
Experienced By the Main Character as Seen in Osamu Dazai’s No Longer
Human. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University. 2011.
This study begins with the Barthes’ essay which claims that literary work and creator are unrelated. With that theory, the writer of this research decides to study a literary work that can be criticized without concerning on author’s intention, and the writer’s choice goes to psychological development of the main character in a literary work. Osamu Dazai’s novel, No Longer Human (1958) is chosen for this research. In the novel, Yozo (the main character) chooses to live differently compared by most of Japanese at that time. He is a mediocre artist (cartoonist). On a contrary, Japanese society does not consider a second-rate cartoonist as a job, and classifies those people as a “freeter” – a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 – 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding homemakers and students. They may also be described as underemployed or freelance workers. Later, the freeter label makes Yozo undergoes a mental disease called anthropophobia – dread of meeting or interacting with other human or society. So, the writer of this research is interested in exploring about Yozo’s relationship with the “freeter” label he has.
In order to get a clear image why Yozo is considered as one of “freeters”, the first question in problem formulation will talk about it. Next, the findings in the first problem formulation will be the foundation to find how “freeter” label does make Yozo suffers from anthropophobia, both from Yozo’s inner-self within and external factor (society).
The method applied in this study is library research. Some steps applied in this study are collecting the data, doing close reading, gaining the data necessary for the problem formulations, reading and revealing the “freeter” label of Yozo which given by the society, and its contribution of anthropophobia experienced by Yozo. To explore the relationship between the “freeter” label and anthropophobia, the writer of this research takes anvantage of social psychology approach.
Through the analysis on the characteristics of Yozo, the fact that Yozo is included as one of the “freeters” are compiled – both from physical and non- physical aspect. In the next analysis, the writer of this research finds out how the “freeter” label has big contribution towards the mental disease called anthropophobia undergone by Yozo, with the internal (personal) attribution (that involves ‘outside look’ of Yozo, his hidden obsession, and bias/error in attribution of him towards the society), along with external (situational) attribution. So, Yozo, in the end of the story, becomes a very introverted person. He feels awkward and anxious when he appears in front of people.
ABSTRAK
Aditya Surya Putra. The Significance of Freeter Label Towards Anthropophobia
Experienced By the Main Character as Seen in Osamu Dazai’s No Longer
Human. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma. 2011.
Tesis ini berawal dari esai Barthes yang mengklaim bahwa karya satra dan penciptanya tidaklah berkaitan. Berbekal teori tersebut, penulis ingin mengkaji sebuah karya sastra dengan mengesampingkan tendensi penulis, dan pilihan penulis jatuh pada kritik perkembangan psikologi karakter utama dalam sebuah karya sastra. No Longer Human (1958), sebuah novel karya Osamu Dazai dipilih penulis untuk penelitian ini. Dalam novel tersebut, Yozo, si tokoh utama, memilih untuk hidup dengan cara yang berbeda dengan kebanyakan orang Jepang: menjadi seorang seniman (kartunis) kelas dua. Sebaliknya, masyarakat Jepang menganggap pekerjaan semacam itu tidak bisa disebut sebagai pekerjaan, dan mengklasifikasikan orang-orang seperti itu sebagai “freeter” – ungkapan masyarakat Jepang untuk menyebut orang berumur antara 15 – 34 tahun yang tidak bekerja penuh-waktu atau pengangguran (ibu rumah tangga atau pelajar tidak termasuk). Mereka juga sering disebut sebagai pekerja lepas berupah rendah. Label tersebut nantinya membuat Yozo mengidap antropofobia – takut akan bertemu dan berinteraksi dengan manusia lain ataupun masyarakat. Dengan latar belakang itu, penulis tertarik melihat lebih jauh hubungan si tokoh utama dengan label “freeter” yang melekat padanya.
Untuk mendapatkan penggambaran yang jelas mengapa Yozo dianggap sebagai salah satu dari “freeter”, permasalahan yang pertama akan difokuskan mengenai hal tersebut. Lantas, temuan-temuan bahwa Yozo dianggap sebagai “freeter” akan dijadikan dasar pencarian tentang bagaimana label tersebut dapat mengakibatkan Yozo mengidap antropofobia, baik dari dalam diri Yozo sendiri, maupun faktor luar (masyarakat).
Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi pustaka. Beberapa langkah yang diterapkan di studi ini adalah mengumpulkan data, melakukan pembacaan mendalam, mengambil data yang dibutuhkan untuk rumusan masalah, membaca dan mengungkap label “freeter” dari masyarakat atas Yozo, dan kontribusi label “freeter” tersebut atas penyakit antropofobia yang diidap oleh Yozo. Untuk melihat hubungan label “freeter” dan antropofobia, penulis menggunakan pendekatan psikologi sosial.
Pada analisa penokohan Yozo, penulis menemukan bahwa Yozo adalah salah satu dari “freeter” – baik dari aspek fisik maupun non-fisik. Pada analisa berikutnya, penulis menemukan label “freeter” berkontribusi besar atas penyakit antropofobia yang diderita oleh Yozo, dengan cara atribusi-dalam (personal) – yang melibatkan ‘tampilan luar’ Yozo, hasrat tersembunyi, dan prasangka salah Yozo terhadap masyarakat, serta atribusi-luar (situasional). Sehingga, di akhir cerita Yozo menjadi seseorang yang sangat tertutup, canggung, dan gelisah saat bertemu orang lain.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature is a medium to reflect reality, alongside with other art works. Roland Barthes argues against traditional literary criticism's practice of
incorporating the intentions and biographical context of an author in an interpretation of a text, and instead argues that writing and creator are unrelated (1977: 142-149). The author’s job is only to create the circumstances, or issue, through characters, plots, settings, et cetera, which are the intrinsic elements of the literary work. Meanwhile, the readers have a task as well – elaborating or transforming the author’s idea into some kind of useful thought by using the literary criticism. This is the writer’s goal of conducting this research. Among many of literature branches and origin, in this research, the writer chose the Japanese literature to elaborate the idea of the author.
Japanese literature is one of the oldest and richest literatures in the world. Since the late 1800s, Japanese writings have become increasingly familiar abroad. Genres such as haiku verse, noh play, and the Japanese novel have had a substantial impact on literature in many parts of the world. The literary history of Japan, like the history of the country itself, has been marked by alternating periods of isolation from the outside world and engagement with it. During times of greater contact with foreign societies, Japanese literature absorbed new approaches, genres, and concepts. Another consistent factor in Japanese literature over the centuries has been a tension between the generally traditionalist values of the elite members of society and the innovative impulses that have come from the culture of common people. Both camps influenced each other, and both contributed greatly to Japanese literary history (Keene, 1997: 56).
Japan is identical with their uniqueness. How they see things is different from the other countries. For example, the Japanese standard of success is not how rich people are, but how they make money, or whom they work for. The writer believes that the condition affected Japan – the people, the ideology, the values, etc. Likewise, it affects how the Japanese authors express their feeling through literary work. A series of Japanese writers captured the spirit of the times more accurately by striving to come to terms with the drastically changed social conditions. The novels Shay
ō (1947; The Setting Sun, 1956) and Ningen Shikkaku
(1948; No Longer Human, 1958) by Osamu Dazai express the difficulty of enduring in a world where conventional values have become meaningless.
Because many of his characters were often overwhelmed by despair and even suicide, Dazai’s suicide in 1948 was widely seen as the expected conclusion to his career and life (Keene, 1997: 74-76).
The novel itself tells about a very ugly boy from a rich family named Yozo, whose life is caught between the disintegration of the traditions of his aristocratic family and the impact of modern Western ideas during post World War II. Yozo had become the “family’s failure” since he could not follow his father’s trace – as he was expected to become a politician, but he became an artist instead. The writer thinks that Yozo was categorized as “Freeter” (fur
ītā), a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding homemakers and students. They may also be described as underemployed or freelance workers. These people do not start a career after high school or university but instead usually live as so-called parasite singles with their parents and earn some money with low skilled and low paid jobs. The low income makes it difficult for freeters to start a family, and the lack of qualifications makes it difficult to start a career at a later point in life (Katsumata, 2000: 8). As the society labeled Yozo as one of the freeters, he got a lot of pressure that came from his friends, society, even from his own family.
These conditions made Yozo suffer from antropophobia, a kind of psychological disturbance in which the sufferer has dread (fear) of human being.
The writer is inquisitive to analyze the psychological effect of the freeter’s phenomenon (and the society’s attitude towards them) experienced by the main character that even caused him a severe psychological trauma. The effect can be seen through how odd and awkward Yozo’s attitude was in facing the other people. Therefore, the topic “The Significance of Freeter Towards the Main Character as Seen in Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human” is picked for the research.
B. Problem Formulation
To guide the study, the writer has prepared two research questions related to the topic. The questions are formulated as follows:
1. How is the main character described as a freeter in the story?
2. How does the freeter label give contribution to the anthropophobia experienced by the main character in the story?
C. Objectives of the Study
First of all, the description of the main character is used to figure out the character and characterization of Yozo, the main character of the story and the central interest of this research as well. Also, this objective is used to find out the meaning of the Japanese term “freeter” and its depiction in the story and finally used to determine that Yozo is included as one of the freeters. This objective will give a clear explanation on freeter’s phenomenon and how the attitude of the society to them was. The second objective is to relate how the effects of the term “freeter” could cause psychological disturbance (in this case, anthropophobia) to the main character (Yozo). Since Japanese society has their own “standard” of success – in this case, as a salary man, Yozo failed to fulfill that so-called standard by becoming one of the freeters, and it triggers him to suffer from social- anxiety disorder.
D. Definition of Terms
There are two terms to be defined related to the title of this research and the analysis that follows. These terms need to be clarified in order to give better understanding of the study.
The first word is freeter. According to Yukiko M. Katsumata in her thesis
Japanese Social Security Measures to Support the Retiring Aged: From
Employment Insurance and Public Pension (2000: 11-12), which was issued for
Japanese National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, freeter is a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding homemakers and students. They may also be described as underemployed or freelance workers. These people do not start a career after high school or university but instead usually live as so-called parasite singles with their parents and earn some money with low skilled and low paid jobs. The low income makes it difficult for freeters to start a family, and the lack of qualifications makes it difficult to start a career at a later point in life. The word freeter or freeta is thought to be an amalgamation of the English word free (or perhaps freelance) and the German word Arbeiter (worker). Another possibility is a shortening of free loader “furee-ro-da” to “furi – da” (The German word Arbeit is commonly used as the Japanese loanword arubaito for “part-time job”). Other possible spellings are fur
ītā, furiita, freeta, furiitaa, or furitaa in order of frequency. Furita is also called as NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) in United Kingdom. The second word is anthropophobia. Anthropophobia or anthrophobia (literally “fear of people”, from the Greek: ánthropos, “man” and phóbos, “fear”), also called interpersonal relation phobia, is pathological fear of people or human company. Anthropophobia is an extreme, pathological form of shyness and timidness. It may be manifested in fears of blushing, meeting the gaze of the others, awkwardness and uneasiness when appearing in society, et cetera (Skinner, 1938: 124).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Among the Japanese writers who lived after the World War II, Osamu Dazai was one of the most influential writers in the era. D. Brudnoy on his book, The Immutable Despair of Osamu Dazai stated that Dazai was a Japanese novelist
and a master storyteller, who became at the end of World War II the literary voice and literary hero of his generation. In many books Dazai used biographical material from his own family background, and made his self-destructive life the subject of his books. Osamu Dazai was born Tsushima Shuji in Kanagi, in northern Honshu, as the tenth of eleven children. His father was a wealthy landowner and politician. Mainly servants brought up Dazai. He studied French literature at the University of Tokyo. There he came into contact with Marxism, started to write and gradually dropped his studies. Dazai first attracted attention in 1933 when his short stories began to appear in magazines. Between the years 1930 and 1937 he made three suicide attempts. The subject was also brought up many of his short stories, among them Doke no Hana (1936) and Tokyo Hyakkei (1941). A Clown Among Clowns describes Dazai trying to describe his first suicide attempt. His second novel, No Longer Human was published in 1946, right after the loss of Japan in World War II. Brudnoy also affirmed that the book was an attack on the traditions of Japan, capturing the postwar crisis of Japanese cultural identity. The tone of his postwar idea in this book was dark, but his troubled life, suicidal thoughts, and spirit of rebelliousness touched the lost generation of youth (1968: 68-70).
In addition, Richard Gartner in his psychotherapy book Betrayed as Boys:
Psychodynamic Treatment of Sexually Abused Men stated that No Longer Human
paints the portrait of the life of Yozo, a troubled soul incapable of revealing his true self to others and who is instead forced to uphold a facade of hollow jocularity, and Dazai might have been a sufferer of complex post-traumatic stress disorder whilst writing the book. Many of the critics have praised the book for expressing male sexual trauma (2005: 166).
To boot, Serdar Yegulap wrote about Dazai on his book, Genji Press of
the Far East, Near West, and a Great Deal In-Between, that No Longer Human is
the most unabashedly autobiographical of Dazai’s works, and for that reason one of the most difficult to stomach. His life story reads like Gothic drama: multiple suicide attempts, usually with a woman; indulgences in drugs and alcohol; bitter feuds with family and rivals; vomit and terror and finally death by his own hand.
Yegulap’s opinion highlights Dazai’s idea about his declines relationship with his family, and the character’s mental disorder (2007: 38).
By considering the several statements of study and criticism mentioned above, there are points that can be drawn. First, Osamu Dazai on his book, No
Longer Human, wrote his autobiography on the form of novel. Second, the
character on his novel (Yozo) is the portrait of Japanese who sufferred confusion and experienced the postwar trauma, which makes him undergo the psychological disturbances. However, the writer would like to concern more with the main character’s development and less concering about the Dazai’s personal life. Because, the writer thinks that Yozo is the ideal model to examine the Japanese condition towards their attitude dealing with freeter and also will be more concern about Yozo’s mental disease, anthropopobia, which caused by the freeter label given to him by the society.
B. Review of Related Theories
In answering the problem formulation, there are some theories related to the topic that are taken from several sources, which are: theory of character and characterization, view on freeter, theory of somatization disorder, theory of social anxiety (anthropophobia), theory of suicide, and theory of attribution in social psychology.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art (such as a novel, play, or film). Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theatre or cinema, involves “the illusion of being a human person.” Since the end of the 18th century, an actor has used the phrase “in character” to describe an effective impersonation. Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practiced by actors or writers, has been called characterization. A character, which stands as a representative of a particular class or group of people, is known as a type. Types include both stock characters and those that are more fully individualized. The characters in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda
Gabler (1891) and August Strindberg's Miss Julie (1888), for example, are
representative of specific positions in the social relations of class and gender, such that the conflicts between the characters reveal ideological conflicts (Stanton, Rohrbreher, 1983: 17-20).
Meanwhile, according to M.J. Murphy, there are nine ways of describing characters as his/her depiction of their own characterization. These are the nine ways:
Firstly, character can be analyzed through the character’s personal description. The writer characterizes the character by seeing a character from his physical appearance like the way he dresses, his build, his face, his skin, or his hair.
The second is by analyzing from other character point of view or character as seen by another. A character can be analyzed through another character’s sight and opinions to describe the character that the writer wants to expose.
Thirdly, a character can be characterized by character’s speech. The readers can have an opinion about the character by paying attention on the character’s speech. The reader can also see the conversation in which the character is involved – the way he/she gives his or her opinion may also show the personality of the character.
Afterwards, considering the character’s past life can be used to analyze characterization – the readers are made to know some important clues to get to know about the character. It can be described by the author’s direct comment, through the character’s conversation, or through the medium of another person.
Fifthly, a character could be analyzed from conversation of others; the readers can get to know a character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him.
Sixthly, by perceiving the character’s reactions to various situations and events, an author shows his character’s tendency, and this tendency gives the readers a clue about character’s personality.
Seventhly, a character can be characterized by the author’s direct comment and description on the character. In this way there is no medium the author used to characterize the character. The author directly describes the character and also gives comment on the character.
Eighthly, the thought of the character can be used to characterize the character. The author shows the character’s personality by letting the readers understand the deepest thought of the character in a novel.
The last is the author characterizes the character by describing the character’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies. The author shows the personalities of the character by stating the character’s gestures and habits, so that it can help the reader to get closer to the character personalities (1972: 161-173).
Yet, the writer only uses seven points of Murphy’s theory since the past experience of the character is not necessary to reveal the freeter status of Yozo in the novel. Also, the novel is told with first-person technique, so there is no author’s direct comment and description on the character.
Characterization is the process of conveying information about characters in narrative or dramatic works of art or everyday conversation. Characters may be presented by means of description, through their actions, speech, or thoughts. A well-developed character is one that has been thoroughly characterized, with many traits shown in the narrative. The better the audience knows the character, the better the character development. Thorough characterization makes characters well-rounded and complex. This allows for a sense of realism. As an example, according to F.R. Leavis, Leo Tolstoy was the creator of some of the most complex and psychologically believable characters in fiction. In contrast, an underdeveloped character is considered flat or stereotypical.
Character development is very important in character-driven literature, where stories focus not on events, but on individual personalities. Classic examples include War and Peace or David Copperfield. In a tragedy, the central character generally remains fixed with whatever character flaw (hamartia) seals his fate; in a comedy the central characters typically undergo some kind of epiphany (sudden realization) whereupon they adjust their erratic beliefs and practices, and avert a tragic fate (Stanton, Rohrbreher, 1983: 17-20).
2. View on Freeter
According to Reiko Kosugi on her journal, Youth Employment in Japan’s
Economic Recovery: ‘Freeters’ and ‘NEETs’, Following the onset of Japan’s
economic recession in the postwar era, the number of company positions available for prospective high school and university graduates dramatically declined, and young Japanese ceased to enjoy the favorable situation, that had long prevailed in which the great majority of job seekers were able to become permanent employees of companies. At the same time, there was a great increase in the number of young people who were engaged in unstable forms of employment, such as temporary or part time work, and who are known as “freeters.”
The term “freeter” then was first coined in the late 1980s when the economy was booming, and it originally referred to young people who refused to become permanent employees, instead engaging in temporary or part time work. Many of these hoped eventually to become professionals in the worlds of music or the theatre and the like. At first the problem of “freeters” was seen as a problem concerning a shift in young people’s attitude to work. However, after the recession began in the postwar era, the number of young people who could not find permanent employment increased, and many were forced to accept temporary employment. Such people also referred to themselves as “freeters.” A third group consisted of young people who deferred choosing a profession because they were unsure what they wanted to do, also engaged in temporary work. They too called themselves “freeters.” According to surveys taken in recent years, the number of those who are “freeters” in the original sense of the word occupies no more than 10-20% of all young people. As this situation became evident, understanding of the “freeter” problem shifted from the attitudes of young people to employment difficulties (2006: 18-20).
The journal Why Freeter and NEET Are Misunderstood: Recognizing the
New Precarious Conditions of Japanese Youth written by Akio Inui stated that the
freeter in Japan faces the pressures: from family and society since they are considered as “useless” due to the high standard of success among Japanese (2005: 44).
Japan’s erratic standard of success also triggers the marginalization of freeter. According to Gil Asakawa, started from the Age of Isolation in Taika Reform, standards of success are relative, whether to be a samurai, or servant of landlord. In Tokugawa era, a man’s success was judged by the size of his herd of cattle. In Edo era, when Japan opened their isolation towards the outer world, salary man and military are more respected than samurai/landlord. Nowadays, standard of success in Japan would have to be measured in wealth – not only how much money they make per year, but also to whom they work for (2004: 99). That is why by being a freeter people will be treated differently because they are failed to fulfill the Japanese’s standard of success.
3. Theory of Somatization Disorder (Early Aging)
Somatization disorder (also Briquet's disorder or, in antiquity, hysteria) is a psychiatric diagnosis applied to patients who persistently complain of varied physical symptoms that have no identifiable physical origin. One common general etiological explanation is that internal psychological conflicts are unconsciously expressed as physical signs. According to the book Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (forth edition) written by American Psychiatric
Association, although somatization disorder has been studied and diagnosed for more than a century, there is debate and uncertainty regarding its pathophysiology. Most current explanations focus on the concept of a misconnection between the mind and the body. Widely held theories on this troublesome, often familial disorder fit into three general categories.
The first and one of the oldest theories is that the symptoms of somatization disorder represent the body’s own defense against psychological stress. This theory states that the mind has a finite capacity to cope with stress and strain. Therefore, increasing social or emotional stresses beyond a certain point are experienced as physical symptoms, principally affecting the digestive, nervous, and reproductive systems. In recent years, researchers have found connections between the brain, immune system, and digestive system, which may be the reason why somatization affects those systems and that people with Irritable bowel syndrome are more likely to get somatization disorder. This theory also helps explain why depression is related to somatization.
The second theory for the cause of somatization disorder is that the disorder occurs due to heightened sensitivity to internal physical and mental sensations. Some people have the ability to feel even the slightest amount of discomfort or pain within their body. With this hypersensitivity, the patient would sense pain that the brain normally would not register in the average person such as minor changes in one's heartbeat. Somatization disorder would then be very closely related to panic disorder under this theory. However, not much is known about hypersensitivity and its relevance to somatization disorder. The psychological or physiological origins of hypersensitivity are still not well understood by experts.
The third theory is that somatization disorder is caused by one’s own negative thoughts and overemphasized fears. Their catastrophic thinking about even the slightest ailments such as thinking a cramp in their shoulder is a tumor, or shortness of breath is due to asthma, could lead those who have somatization disorder to actually worsen their symptoms. This then causes them to feel more pain for just a simple thing like a headache. Often the patients feel like they have a rare disease. This is due to the fact that their doctors would not be able to have a medical explanation for their over-exaggerated pain that the patient actually thinks is there. This thinking that the symptom is catastrophic also often reduces the activities they normally do. They fear that doing activities that they would normally do on a regular basis would make the symptoms worse. The patient slowly stops doing activities one by one until they practically shut themselves from a normal life. With nothing else to do it leaves more time to think about the “rare disease” they have and consequently ending in greater stress and disability.
The most obvious symptoms of somatization disorder are hysteria, extremely deviated behavior such as banal laziness, and early aging (APA, 1994: 241-247).
4. Theory of Social Anxiety (Antropophobia)
B.F. Skinner said that anthropophobia or anthrophobia (literally “fear of people”, from the Greek: ánthropos, “man” and phóbos, “fear”), also called interpersonal relation phobia is pathological fear of people or human company. Anthropophobia is an extreme, pathological form of shyness and timidness. It may be manifested in fears of blushing, meeting the gaze of the others, awkwardness and uneasiness when appearing in society, et cetera. A specific Japanese cultural form has been known as taijin kyofusho. Anthropophobia is a condition in which people experience unusual and often extreme difficulty with being around other people. This particular phobia goes beyond the more common fear of being in crowded social situations and extends to experiencing a great deal of discomfort even when with one other person. While some cases of the condition are relatively mild, other situations are so intense that the individual may choose to shut himself or herself away from any type of direct human contact, limiting their social interaction to handwritten letters and electronic communications. Skinner argued that even though phobia is created by outside factor such as environment or unpleasant past events, level of phobia could be increased due to several traumas, such as suicide attempt or exaggerated fears (1938 : 124-126).
5. Theory of Suicide
In the book written by a clergyman Doman Lum, Responding to Suicidal
Crisis, suicide is the act of a human being intentionally causing his or her own
death. Suicide is often committed out of despair, or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, which includes depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism and drug abuse. Financial difficulties, interpersonal relationships and other undesirable situations play a significant role. Socio-economic factors such as unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and discrimination may trigger suicidal thoughts. Poverty may not be a direct cause but it can increase the risk of suicide, as it is a major risk group for depression. Advocacy of suicide has sometimes been cited as a contributing factor. Intelligence may also factor. Initially proposed as a part of an evolutionary psychology explanation, which posited a minimum intelligence required for one to commit suicide, the positive correlation between
IQ and suicide has been replicated in a number of studies. Some scientists doubt however that intelligence can be a cause of suicide, and the intelligence is no longer a predictor of suicide when regressed with national religiousness and perceptions of personal health (1974: 27-49).
6. Theory of Attribution (Social Psychology)
Attribution is a concept in social psychology referring to how individuals explain causes of events, other's behavior, and their own behavior. On his book,
The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, Fritz Heider argued that, as an active
perceiver of the events, the average person continuously or spontaneously makes causal inferences on why the events occur. Eventually, these inferences become beliefs or expectations that allow the person to predict and understand the events that they observe and experience. As such, attribution theory is concerned with how individuals interpret events and how these interpretations relate to their continuous behavior
The two main types of attributions are internal and external attributions. When an internal attribution is made, the cause of the given behavior is assigned to the individual's personality, attitudes, character or disposition. It could be examined by two internal factors: outside look and hidden obsession. Meanwhile when an external attribution is made, the cause of the given behavior is assigned to the situation in which the behavior was seen (that the individual producing the behavior did so because of the surrounding environment or the social situation).
These two types of attribution lead to very different perceptions of the individual engaging in a behavior (personal is internal and situational is external).
There are six bias and errors in attribution, yet among those six bias and errors in attributions, the writer wants to examine the main character’s attribution with the self-serving attributions. These attributions are explanations for one’s own successes that credit internal, dispositional factors are explanations and explanations for one’s failures that blame external, situational factors. People tend to make attributions in line “bad things happen to bad people” and “good things happen to good people” in order to protect their self-esteem and prevent feeling vulnerable.