StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
In the paper “Franz Kafka’s A Hunger Artist” the author examines the human condition from the absurdist philosophical perspective. “A Hunger Artist” emphasizes the senselessness of the world and the extent to which man is misunderstood and incapable of making himself understood…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.2% of users find it useful
Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist"

Franz Kafka's "A Hunger Artist" is, despite its length, rich in meaning. Examining the human condition from the absurdist philosophical perspective,"A Hunger Artist" emphasizes the senselessness of the world and the extent to which man is misunderstood and incapable of making himself understood. The protagonist, locked in a cage, is a professional self-starver, capable of fasting for periods longer than forty days. While the protagonist views his capacity for self-starvation as an art which he is trying to perfect, an achievement, the townsfolk either do not believe that he is truly fasting or see him as a freak,' not as the artist he perceives of himself as. Insofar as his purpose is not understood and his act of starvation is viewed suspiciously, the hunger artist emerges as an absurd figure. The absurdity of the hunger artist, however, is the absurdity of the human condition and of life itself. To this extent, and despite the unrealistic nature of the story, "A Hunger Artist" can be interpreted as a metaphor for life, a realistic exposition of the human condition, and a parable. The Hunger Artist's inability to communicate the intent of his act of starvation to the people and his commitment to his art does not simply imply the absurdity of his life's work but highlights the meaninglessness of life itself. Kafka's protagonist, a painfully thin man, is locked in a cage by his manager, his impresario, with whom he signed a contract giving him the authority to lock up and starve the artist for a period of forty days. Day after day, for forty days, he just sits in his cage, fasting, watching others watch him, and admire his ability to starve. Meanwhile, three butchers supposedly watch over him to ensure that he does not cheat and break his fast but, instead of keeping an eye on him, they deliberately let him alone. Although they do this out of kindness and to give him an opportunity to eat from the food they believe he has hidden somewhere in his cage. However, the hunger artist views this as an insulting lack of appreciation for, and belief in, his art. When the forty days are over, he is let out of his cage and led into the town with a marching band. After a few days of rest and food, he begins his fast again. In other words, he is trapped in a continuous cycle of forty days fasting, brief break, forty days fasting and so on. His work/art, insofar as it is not understood as an art, is absurd; his unique ability for self-starvation is absurd as there are many who do not believe he is truly fasting; and, ultimately, his life is reduced to an absurd and meaningless cycle of starvation. As incredible as "A Hunger Artist" and its protagonist are, it is a realistic, although metaphorical, representation of life and the human condition. The story is about the concept of achievement, of doing something incredible and, accordingly, attracting recognition and respect. The protagonist's unique ability, however, is not viewed as an accomplishment worthy of respect but as something fascinating which, at best, will only attract disbelieving stares. The point here is that we, as the readers, should not just see this incredible accomplishment as simply referring to starvation and fasting but as referring to many things, whether they are ideas, inventions or even services that one person has done for men. In other words, this story can be read as focusing on the fact that most people no longer give others, or great things, the appreciation that they deserve. In that case, doing something great or extending an important service to the world becomes absurd and meaningless. For one, people will search for the weak points in that great accomplishment or service, such as when the butchers assumed and believed that the Hunger Artist was cheating and eating. That is, some people will search for the flaws and bring that great thing down, making it loose some of its value. Others will exploit it, as the impresario did with the Hunger Artist. This is exactly what Kafka is saying and important to quote in this respect is the following thoughts from the hunger artist himself: "this perversion of the truth, familiar to the artist though it was, always unnerved him" (201). Even though the Hunger Artist knows that the intention of his fast will be misinterpreted, he refuses to surrender. Therefore, he starves time after time in an endless cycle but his starvation is absurd because it aims to achieve recognition and respect which it will not. It is in this way, and if we expand the focus of the story to include all human accomplishments, that we can interpret it as a realistic metaphor on the absurdity of life. In addition to interpreting this story as a metaphor on the absurdity of life, "A Hunger Artist" can also be read as a parable that communicates a lesson on life. As a parable, the story will be read as it is; a man starving himself for a specific purpose that is always misunderstood and misinterpreted. However, by reading it as a parable, we can draw important lessons from it, first of which is that a person must not assume that others should understand his intentions but clarify them. Secondly, if something we do proves to be useless, either because it is not appreciated or because it is completely misunderstood, we should not trap ourselves in a circle of repetition. Instead, we should move onto something else. Otherwise, like the hunger artists, we may become addicted to that activity and continued with it endlessly until we die. In other words, as a parable, this story communicates some important lessons on life. However, because it is so rich in meaning, this story need not be just interpreted as a parable or a metaphor but as a being a realistic story. To do so, we have to be a bit creative and replace the idea of starvation and fasting out of personal free will, with the idea of acting without free will. Basically, when the Hunger Artist explained himself to the overseer in the end, he said: "I always wanted you to admire my fasting but you shouldn't admire it because I have to fast, I can't help it because I couldn't find the food I liked" (204). The Hunger Artist acted in the way that he did because life forced him to. This is very realistic and many can sympathize with the idea of not doing something out of free will but because we are forced to by circumstances. In a few short pages and focusing on just one character, Kafka wrote a story which is extremely rich in meaning. To understand this meaning, the reader must not focus on the story itself, or on the actions of the protagonist but, on what the story and the protagonist represent. Should the reader do so, he will comprehend this story as a realistic look at the human condition, a metaphor for life and a parable. More importantly, the reader will understand Kafka's views on the absurd nature of life. Works Cited Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories. New York: Schocken Books, 1995. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words, n.d.)
Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1517266-franz-kafkas-a-hunger-artist
(Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words. https://studentshare.org/literature/1517266-franz-kafkas-a-hunger-artist.
“Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”. https://studentshare.org/literature/1517266-franz-kafkas-a-hunger-artist.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Franz Kafkas A Hunger Artist

Discuss the different levels of irony in the story

Customer Date Analyzing the different levels of Irony in Franz Kafka's a hunger artist a hunger artist is a short story penned by Franz Kafka in 1922.... However, a hunger artist is not only about changing trends of society, but, actually, it portrays various tabooed issues with its ironic theme, hidden symbols, and metaphors.... This paper is an attempt to understand the hidden irony, and allegory in a hunger artist.... Situational irony occurs at numerous points in a hunger artist....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Interpretation--graphic fiction

hellip; This paper focuses on a thorough and interpretation of some graphics work via an account of Franz Kafka's contemporary story on “a hunger artist”.... This paper focuses on a thorough and interpretation of some graphics work via an account of Franz Kafka's contemporary story on “a hunger artist”.... “a hunger artist” is essentially a very unique document that provides very clear light on how the graphics professionals have further benefitted from the works of Crumb and Mairowittz....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov and A Hungry Artist by Franz Kafka

“A Hungry artist” is another globally acclaimed short story written by Franz Kafka about two decades after Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog and describes what the nature of an individual's life is in very troublesome circumstances.... The artist in the story is victimized by the society in which he lives and Kafka through creating this unique character adeptly explores the themes of isolation and deteriorated human relationships and how they influence a person's actions....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Punishment by Rabindranath Tagore A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka

This paper intends to compare and contrast 'Punishment' by Rabindranath Tagore and 'a hunger artist' by Franz Kafka with respect to the theme, plot and setting in terms of the unpleasantness of having to live with miseries in life and not having the power to improve the current condition in life.... … According to the report Kafka wrote the fiction 'a hunger artist' out of the need to point out worker safety, for which he worked in his later years as well....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Franz Kafka's A Hunger Artist

One of the best works ever written by Franz Kafka was "a hunger artist.... Most of Kafka's stories included certain repeating themes, and "a hunger artist" was no exception.... hellip; The themes that are included in Kafka's stories, including "a hunger artist" were art, asceticism, corruption with regard to human relationships, death, futility, isolation, personal failure, and spiritual poverty.... Kafka himself was a hunger artist, so it can be said that the description and illustration of the art depicted in this novel was autobiographical (Kafka, 1996 and Booth, Hunter, and Mays, 2005)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

Social Laws and Isolation in Kafka

There are obvious tensions… This essay explores the themes of isolation and social laws in Kafka's short stories Before the Law, A Country Doctor, and a hunger Franz Kafka's parable Before the Law is an enigmatic contemplation of a man and his relation to social laws and the isolation he faces throughout his existence....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Victims of Modern Existentialist Absurdity

Both Meursault in Albert Camus' novel “Stranger” and Gregor in franz Kafka's novella “Metamorphosis” are the victims of modern existentialist absurdity that forces them to resort to self-alienation from the societies in which they live.... But these two characters are… The extents to which Meursault and Gregor are responsible for their situations are different....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka and the Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges

Despite "a hunger artist" and "The Garden of Forking Paths" accounts written by different authors, they have applied similar mode of approach in depicting their core protagonists' traits.... Mainly, this is via utilizing diverse aspects, which normally comprise their settings to… Additionally, authors in these accounts have also employed diverse symbols to bring out similar implications meant to build the two protagonists and their minor Hence, making the protagonists Yu Tsun and hunger artist during the onset of their accounts appearing strong but eventually they turn out being losers or failures....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us