Narration in Just a Man

Of the nine short stories present in Goodbye, the second story, Just a Man, maintains, perhaps, the most unique relationship with its readers. Whereas the various other stories rely either on reader observation or the internal narration of a central character to advance the plot and develop characters, Just a Man introduces a third person narrator to provide the reader insight into the actions of Mr. Hanayama. The immediate effect is such that Tatsumi diminishes the reader's role in interpreting the story. The use of a first person narrator typically does little to offset the role of the reader in a comic because all information provided through this medium is hampered by it's association with the opinion of a character. Therefore, this information is not absolute, as it can change with the experiences of the character, so the reader must still be mindful of the actual events of the story.

On the other hand, Tatsumi's third person narrator is omniscient, and so any information presented to the reader in this way requires no further exploration or interpretation. The end result is that this style of narration removes the experience of the reader from the experiences present in the narrative. However, I find it puzzling that Tatsumi uses this third person narrator in Just a Man since the hopeless circumstances of Mr. Hanayama evoke sympathy for the main character and highlight the fallibility present in humans. Both of these effects rely heavily upon reader response, and so any comments shedding light on why Tatsumi would try to remove the reader from the process of interpreting these themes would be appreciated.