Pedestrian: How deeply do our hearts truly connect? Natsume Soseki's representative work exploring the human psyche

How deeply connected are our hearts?

In the end, humans can only bear the weight of loneliness alone.

The solitude of self-exploration, jealousy, ego, and the anguish of self-interest…

There is a dignity built upon solitude—

A new pinnacle in Soseki's literature,

A philosophical confession by the great Japanese writer Natsume Soseki, who comprehended solitude.

As long as one lives in this world, there is no place utterly devoid of ugliness.
Things always happen in ways contrary to one's expectations. — Natsume Soseki
 

“The Wayfarer” is a work Natsume Soseki penned in his later years, after experiencing the "Shuzenji Incident" and teetering on the brink of life and death, plunging into a deeper spiritual realm. It is part of Soseki’s “Later Trilogy.” The style shifted from the romanticism of his early period to an exploration of the inner self and philosophical analysis, conveying Soseki's own world-weariness.

The entire book is narrated from the perspective of the younger brother, "I" (Jiro), acting like a mirror reflecting the fragile marital relationship of his elder brother and sister-in-law, the contradictions in family relationships, the encounters and understanding among friends, and illuminating the intellectual elder brother Ichiro (the prototype for Natsume Soseki himself). Due to excessive rationality and sensitivity, Ichiro's heart is plunged into various struggles and conflicts. The sense of powerlessness to change the status quo causes him to suffer in fear and anxiety every single moment.

Through the character of Ichiro, Natsume Soseki tells us that those who attempt to reach the depths of their inner being and see through everything are destined to be lonely, because they must bear the sorrows of society and the suffering of humanity alone. This is the fate of a mature person.

Do you think I am still a normal person now?

From the outside, I wear a beard, a suit, and hold a cigar, indeed a gentleman,

but in reality, my heart is like a beggar,

wandering aimlessly from dawn till dusk…

The book is divided into four chapters: "Friends," "Brother," "Return," and "Worldly Troubles." The first three chapters depict interpersonal conflicts and frictions, and peculiar allegories of love. Natsume Soseki masterfully weaves these elements together with a dramatic, almost fated, narrative, laying mysterious and suspenseful groundwork. The final chapter then expresses the loneliness and wistfulness of life.

Through the ambiguous and subtle psychological transformations of the characters, this book thoroughly portrays how an intellectual/a person striving for truth, goodness, and beauty in the world finds themselves "surrounded by hypocrisy," which only intensifies their self-isolation. Even when suffering unbearable pain, they cannot find solace from others. Their world, unable to tolerate a single speck of dust, can only descend into the abyss of solitude.

No matter how learned one is, no matter how much one studies, the human heart ultimately cannot be understood…
Indeed, just as our bodies are separate, aren't our hearts also separate?
 

In the final chapter, "Worldly Troubles," Soseki leads us into Ichiro’s spiritual world, much like a private novel. He is engrossed in thought but also tormented by it. Each of us can recognize ourselves in him and understand that there is a dignity built upon solitude.