2

I was reading an excerpt from this book and it read something like this:

物体は激しく動けば、それだけ摩擦が大きくなる。人間だって、激しく動くと熱を持つのだ。端から見れば、輝いている人間のことが、きっと羨ましく見えるのだろう。

だけど、輝いている本人は熱くてたまらないのだ。(中略)

これは真面目に、けっこう辛いことなのだ。

カッコつけているわけじゃない。自分がそうなってみて、実感としてそう感じる。

Here are my questions:

  1. だって is just でも, similar to the one explained here, right?
  2. What is the 主語 of the sentenceカッコつけているわけじゃない。I would translate it as "It's not that I'm showing off (here). Even if I (myself) become like that (i.e., 輝いている本人), I would/will feel the same (i.e., けっこう辛い)." I don't understand it because the author doesn't seem to be showing off or being pretentious. Or am I not noticing something?

P.S.: I can remove the 「中略」 if you think it's necessary to finding the 主語.

naruto
  • 313,860
  • 13
  • 324
  • 625
rebuuilt
  • 2,392
  • 1
  • 9
  • 26

1 Answers1

2
  1. Yes, this だって is like "also" or "even".
  2. The subject of カッコつけている is 輝いている人 in general. Here 格好付け refers to saying 辛い ("I'm suffering") even though they objectively seem highly successful and happy. The author thinks a successful celebrity saying such a thing may seem pretentious or contrived, but he is saying that the pain successful people are feeling is a real one, not a feigned one.
naruto
  • 313,860
  • 13
  • 324
  • 625
  • Though you can't replace it with でも in this context. – broccoli forest Jul 01 '20 at 07:03
  • @broccolifacemask-cloth That's interesting. May I know why? – rebuuilt Jul 01 '20 at 07:04
  • @broccolifacemask-cloth この文章に限れば「人間でも」でも通じません？ 常にそうなのかはよく分かりませんが… – naruto Jul 01 '20 at 07:07
  • Thank you for your very clear answer @naruto. Can I ask a follow up question? So in the following sentence 自分がそうなってみて、実感としてそう感じる。, 自分 = 輝いている人 and そう=辛いこと? I also don't understand てみる in なってみる. This is not the てみる in here (https://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-japanese-grammar-34/) because no one's attempting anything. Or am I wrong? Also なってみて is just the same as なってみても right? – rebuuilt Jul 01 '20 at 07:16
  • 1
    @naruto 通じるといえば通じるのですが、何か違う意味になりませんか？「人間だって」だと「人間も同じように」ですが、「人間でも」だと「人間ですら」とか「人間の例でも」みたいな感じで… – broccoli forest Jul 01 '20 at 07:53
  • 1
    @rebuuilt Yeah that's indeed a good question that you may ask in a new topic (if you've found no duplicate). – broccoli forest Jul 01 '20 at 07:55
  • Thank you @broccolifacemask-cloth I'll check on similar topics then maybe post a new question :) – rebuuilt Jul 01 '20 at 07:57
  • @broccolifacemask-cloth I've already posted the follow-up question here: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/78331/29327

    Interesting, so replacing だって with でも can still get the message across but it changes the nuance a bit?

     – rebuuilt Jul 01 '20 at 08:55
  • @rebuuilt Oh I focused on the てみて part but thank you for posting. I think it's more like だって and でも both "work" in this sentence but not completely same in meaning. – broccoli forest Jul 01 '20 at 09:39
  • naruto@　常にそうなのかはよく分かりませんが　。so, are you saying that it baffles you even as a native speaker ? – light of gold Jul 01 '20 at 15:00