Hunger Artist Is a Strange

Hunger Artist is a strange and compelling short story, which revolves around the themes of artistic alienation and suffering. The story is characteristic of Kafka's work in that it seems both fantastic and real at the same time. The narrative deals with the life and death of a hunger artist or a man who fasts as an art form. The structure story can roughly be divided it three sections. In the first section we encounter the hunger artist at the height of his fame and renown.

He is admired for his profound fasting ability and the people stream to see him. As in many of Kafka's stories, there is a sense of irony and paradox which permeates the text. The hunger artist in fact enjoys his fasting and his suffering. The emphasis on suffering also shows how different and opposite to society the artist is. In many ways he is in conflict with the views and norms of the society.

In his representation of the hunger artist, Kafka makes the abnormal seem to be normal in a certain sense. This can be seen in the obvious reality that the hunger artist is in actually starving himself - a fact that is contrary to the norms or usual ways in human society. This conflict within the story is aided by the realistic tone and detail that are used to describe the hunger artist. For example, the following extract clearly describes the hunger artist as a real person.

"...he sat there pallid in black tights, with his ribs sticking out so prominently, not even on a seat but down among straw on the ground, sometimes giving a courteous nod, answering questions with a constrained smile, or perhaps stretching an arm through the bars so that one might feel how thin it was..." (a Hunger Artist) The second part of the story begins with a sudden decline in the popularity of the hunger artist and his profession.

People no longer admire of find his art interesting, or his ability to go without food impressive. As a result he has to resort to commercializing his art and is forced to join a circus. However, even in the circus his "talents' are not appreciated and he is placed next to the animals. He finds that the audience moves quickly past his performance area to the animals, hardly pausing to notice him. The relationship between the audience and the artist is also a theme that Kafka explores in this story.

There is reciprocity between the two and the hunger artist is dependent on the public appreciation of his suffering. However this relationship breaks done in the circus and the artist is given only a small glimpse of hope and a fading recollection of his previous glory.

He is aware that the public is no longer interested in his particular art form, what did they care about fasting?" (a Hunger Artist) He is only slightly encouraged by younger members of the public who "...showed by the brightness of their intent eyes that new and better times might be coming. "(a Hunger Artist) However, this slight hope only serves to accentuate his sadness and failing as an artist This leads to the third section of the story when he goes into decline and finally dies while fasting.

The waning of his popularity is clearly indicated in the fact that he is forgotten even by the circus members who update the board which indicates the number of days that he has been fasting. There is a deep sense of sadness and pathos in the description of his neglect.

" the fine placards grew dirty and illegible, they were torn down; the little notice board showing the number of fast days achieved, which at first was changed carefully every day, had long stayed at the same figure, for after the first few weeks even this small task seemed pointless to the staff;..." (a Hunger Artist) the artist continues to fast until he eventually dies. In terms of narrative structure, the story follows a conventional pattern of success, decline, failure and death.

However in the process we encounter the real feelings and the emotions as well as the areas of conflict within the artist's life. The conflicts in the story are the conflicts between society and the artist, which will be discussed in the following section. 2. Symbolism and metaphorical meaning Like many of Kafka's other stories, a Hunger Artist is highly metaphorical and makes use of symbols to suggest the central meaning of the work.

In this case the central motif is the artist, his suffering and his alienation or difference from society. The difference of the artist from the other people around him is clearly exemplified in the characterization of the hunger artist. He is a symbol of the artist who is outside of the norms of society and in a sense always in conflict with that society because he is different.

The hunger artist states that he finds fasting "easy" and the fact that he is able to go without normal nutrition makes him strange and "other." He is therefore a symbol of the suffering artist who finds himself, like Kafka, outside the acceptance of society. On the other hand it is his very difference from the society that makes him special and important as an artist. However this also leads to other issues such as suffering and the need for acceptance.

The gap between the hunger artist and the society is shown in the final section of the short story. While he is dying the artist reveals why he was able to fast so easily. He states that that it was because".. I couldn't find the food I liked.

If I had found it, believe me, I should have made no fuss and stuffed myself like you or anyone else." (a Hunger Artist) This implies that the artist was so different that he could not find anything within ordinary society to satisfy himself. The only thing that he had in his life of worth was his ability to be the hunger artist. Once the public.