The Three Photographs

The unnamed narrator describes three photographs of Yozo spanning his life: a childhood picture showing a grotesque, monkey-like smirk; a handsome but eerily artificial student portrait; and a final, expressionless image of a grey-haired man in a dirty room. The narrator finds each photograph increasingly disturbing and inhuman, setting up the mystery of Yozo's character. This prologue establishes the central question of what it means to be human and foreshadows Yozo's tragic trajectory.