Hinako in this sense may be read almost as a monster in and of herself, where monster suggests not necessarily a predatory entity, but an affect produced in the sociocultural imagination, a figure both alien and familiar, for it suggests in its plight what we shall one day face, or might have faced, a potential tragedy that must be cordoned off, explained away or profoundly personalized lest it become too universal- in short, an abjection, just like the pale hands reaching up from the beach, neither dead nor alive, but somehow all the more unsettling for it.

I think you're onto something important here. The English translation of the title uses "monster", which definitely works, but I think it kinda obscures a key theme of the story. My Japanese is very rudimentary but I find it interesting that in the Japanese title the term used is hito de nashi, literally "no person" or more appropriately in context, "inhuman". In dictionaries the word is defined as referring to a person who lacks human compassion and kindness; a ruthless, cruel or merciless individual. Not to be too harsh on the translators though; "An inhuman being wants to eat me" isn't exactly a catchy title.

Although Hinako is human, I think the central theme of this story is her struggling with that fact, as society hesitates to treat her as one. I think there are a lot of parallels one could draw here to Osamu Dazai's monumental classic No Longer Human.

last edited at Jun 22, 2022 6:03AM