A Hunger Artist

In the story “A Hunger Artist” a man who works for the circus locks himself in a cage with straw. While in the cage, he fasts, which means he does not eat. At first people enjoy seeing this man starve, but as time passes people begin to lose interest and become repulsed at the sight of him. The hunger artist wanted to break records by fasting for an obscene number of days, however the impresario did not want to let him. The artist never felt satisfied with himself and felt that the impresario was not allowing him to pursue what he believed was his calling.

In many ways the story “A Hunger Artist” represents Franz Kafka’s life. One example of this, is how the hunger artist never felt that he was allowed to fast as long as he wanted, causing him not to be satisfied in his work. Kafka’s father did not approve of his creative side and did not want him to focus so much of his attention on what he believed was a hobby. Kafka had many jobs that he was never happy with because they did not interest him. He believed his calling in life was to be a writer, and that these jobs and his father were preventing him from becoming one. Just like the hunger artist in the circus, Kafka was not satisfied with the work everyone felt he should do.

Another example is that the hunger artist craved the attention from the people who came to the circus. As years went on he began to lose the attention of the public. He tried to gain them back by fast for longer and longer periods of time. Kafka also craved the attention. His parents worked most of the time, leaving him and his sisters to be raised by servants. Because his father was controlling and often neglected his family, Kafka did not have a good relationship with his father. The often fought, this could have been caused by his father’s demeanor and Kafka’s desire to have his parents notice him.

The Hunger Artist

In art and in literature, expressionism uses personal emotion rather than realism to depict the world through emotional perception rather than objective perspective. Expressionism can distort the physical world in order to create moods or underlying messages intended by the author. This story falls under the category of expressionism because the author gives the Hunger Artist an unnatural, unrealistic ability to fast for long periods of time and the story is told through his emotional perspective. The dark humor lies in the Hunger Artist’s sense of inability to prove his true capabilities to anyone, and his perpetual agony that he puts himself in as a result. Symbolism also plays a role in the story because the cage, for example, is used to show an isolation between the Hunger Artist and the rest of society, both in a literal and a symbolic sense.