No Longer Humanoid — I am bound here By despair, by terrible…

hamliet answered:

It means that they are foils! A foil is a character who had a distinctive similarity to another character, but the differences are mean to point out something about both characters.

@linkspooky has written a fantastic meta on Fyodor and Dazai’s foiling that I highly recommend here. It explains, in detail, the ways in which they are alike and the ways in which they are different.

I’ll talk a little bit about Dazai and Fyodor’s philosophies because I’m a former philosophy teacher and a nerd who loves this stuff, and then about their abilities, and lastly about Fyodor as a symbol for Dazai’s past:

I. Philosophy

In short, Dazai’s ideals are more about existentialism, whereas Fyodor’s are a specific philosophical branch of existentialism known as nihilism (Ironically, the real life Dostoyevsky was not a nihilist and in fact staunchly refuted nihilism). Basically the quickest summary of these philosophies is that both characters start from an inherently nihilistic perspective:  there is no inherent meaning in life.

The branch of nihilism they start from is existential nihilism,
which is the most commonly studied branch. (Side note: many, including
Fyodor’s character, associations of nihilism are negative and
depressing; that is not however necessary as a part of nihilism despite the colloquial usage of nihilism=empty and despairing). The idea is that whatever you do is purposeless.

Where they differ is that Dazai ventures into the existentialist part. Existentialism concerns itself with humanity first and foremost, with an emphasis on decisions (I consider myself a Christian existentialist a la one of the founders of existentialism, Kierkegaard). It says that you can choose a reason to live (hey, the main theme of Bungou Stray Dogs!) and thereby there is meaning in your life based on your choices.

Let’s look at what Oda said to Dazai as he died, the words that inspired Dazai to leave the mafia and strive to be a better person:

Listen. You told me that you might find a reason to live if you lived
in a world of violence and bloodshed. You won’t find it. You must know
that already. Whether you’re on the side who kills people or the side
who saves people, nothing beyond what you would expect will appear.
Nothing in this world can fill that lonely hole you have. You will
wander the darkness for eternity. (…) Be on the side that saves
people. If both sides are the same, become a good man. Save the weak,
and protect the orphans. Neither good nor evil means much to you, I
know… but that’d make you at least a little bit better. (…) Of
course I know. I know better than anyone. Because… I am your friend.

There’s a kind of nihilistic perspective, but here Oda is also saying he can make choices and his choices will make a difference to others. Dazai is, at the current point in the story, trying to respect individual autonomy. Whether he actually does such a great job is a topic for another day/later in this meta (he doesn’t, see: Akutagawa), but he understands individuals (aaaand can manipulate them based on that fact; not good). Fyodor, on the other hand, has completely given in to his god complex, believing that he alone can rewrite (literally, via the book) the world to erase ability users. He wants to impute his beliefs on the entire world, without even giving them a choice in the matter.

II. Abilities

Neither Fyodor nor Dazai appear to be able to touch someone without activating their abilities. Symbolically, Dazai’s “No Longer Human” deactivates a part of another person and means few if anyone can be a proper match for him. (However, his ability can also save people: see Q and Chuuya, notably both from the mafia; Dazai needs to accept this). It shows his being separated from people emotionally.

Fyodor’s ability, whatever it is, seems connected to touch and (maybe) brains. He killed quite a few with touching them, but we don’t know to what degree he has control over it (if his ability was involved in whatever happened to Goncharov or Sigma, he might have a degree of control). But either way, his ability means that he can’t connect with someone (physically, a symbol of the emotional) without hurting them. This is true of human connection in general: everyone hurts everyone at some point. You just have to learn to live with it.

Fyodor, however, lives very much in a world of black and white. He makes Goncharov happy all the time, unable to experience pain or negative emotions. He believes all ability users are a sin and should be destroyed. He’s an idealist in a lot of ways, believing in absolutes (which is also a hallmark of a childish perspective; Dazai, too, is still quite childish in a lot of his thinking). But he doesn’t believe the world can get better, so he wants to destroy it and in doing so force every single ability user to feel his pain (that their abilities are a sin) by wiping them out. In short, Fyodor wants empathy despite refusing to listen to the feelings of others. (He understands their feelings; he just chooses to emphasize his pain over theirs.)

III. Empathy and Fyodor as a symbol for Dazai’s Past

Fyodor’s nihilism isn’t actually that different from Dazai’s perspective during his time in the mafia. Dazai was like, shooting bodies because he could, killing and torturing countless people in a desperate attempt to feel anything at all. (Fyodor actually still seems to feel for people despite his murder spree so.)

Just as Dazai avoids facing Akutagawa and actually having a decent conversation with him because to do so would mean accepting how he abused Akutagawa and facing his younger self, he needs to face that Fyodor is a reflection of his younger self in a lot of ways. God complex, destructive applications of nihilism, believing life doesn’t have value. But Dazai found value in mentoring Atsushi (and still Akutagawa through shin soukoku, it’s just… more distant than it should be). Probably shin soukoku will be instrumental to defeating Fyodor in the future and such a moment should be a point at which Dazai starts to face himself.

I’ve written before that BSD is basically a very long redemption arc for Dazai, and as part of that, you have to face your past. Atsushi’s view of Dazai is way too idealized right now; he basically puts him on a pedestal. Fighting Fyodor might help Atsushi come to terms with whom Dazai actually is, if he notices certain key similarities.