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Tsuneko
Flatfish is an old acquaintance of Yozo’s father. When Yozo is arrested for being an “accomplice to a suicide,” the authorities require him to arrange for somebody to pick him up and watch over him. He calls Flatfish, who agrees to take him in. Flatfish thus steps in to fill the void left by Yozo’s father, who stops speaking to Yozo after his failed suicide. A kind and practical man, Flatfish lets Yozo live in his house, but he eventually tries to urge Yozo to do something with his life. He’s willing to pay for Yozo to return to college, but he’ll only do so if Yozo expresses a desire to get his life back on track. Yozo, however, is unable to articulate what he wants in life and, instead of accepting Flatfish’s help, ends up running away. Later, Flatfish teams up with Horiki and takes Yozo to a psychiatric ward.
Flatfish Quotes in No Longer Human
The No Longer Human quotes below are all either spoken by Flatfish or refer to Flatfish. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Third Notebook: Part One
Quotes
Why, I wonder, couldn’t he have mentioned the simple fact that the money would be forthcoming from home? That one fact would probably have settled my feelings, but I was left in a fog.
“How about it? Have you anything which might be described as aspirations for the future? I suppose one can’t expect people one helps to understand how difficult it is to help another person.”
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
The Third Notebook: Part Two
Quotes
Horiki sat in front of me and said, with a gentle smile, the like of which I had never before seen on his face, “I hear you’ve coughed blood.” I felt so grateful, so happy for that gentle smile that I averted my face and wept. I was completely shattered and smothered by that one gentle smile.
This was a really rare event. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that it was the one and only time in my life that I refused something offered to me. My unhappiness was the unhappiness of a person who could not say no. I had been intimidated by the fear that if I declined something offered me, a yawning crevice would open between the other person’s heart and myself which could never be mended through all eternity.
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Flatfish Quotes in No Longer Human
The No Longer Human quotes below are all either spoken by Flatfish or refer to Flatfish. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Third Notebook: Part One
Quotes
Why, I wonder, couldn’t he have mentioned the simple fact that the money would be forthcoming from home? That one fact would probably have settled my feelings, but I was left in a fog.
“How about it? Have you anything which might be described as aspirations for the future? I suppose one can’t expect people one helps to understand how difficult it is to help another person.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The Third Notebook: Part Two
Quotes
Horiki sat in front of me and said, with a gentle smile, the like of which I had never before seen on his face, “I hear you’ve coughed blood.” I felt so grateful, so happy for that gentle smile that I averted my face and wept. I was completely shattered and smothered by that one gentle smile.
This was a really rare event. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that it was the one and only time in my life that I refused something offered to me. My unhappiness was the unhappiness of a person who could not say no. I had been intimidated by the fear that if I declined something offered me, a yawning crevice would open between the other person’s heart and myself which could never be mended through all eternity.
