Kafka's A Hunger Artist

This study will analyze Franz Kafka's "A Hunger Artist," focusing on the protagonist as a typically suffering and thoroughly misunderstood artist-hero in society. What makes the story especially compelling is the fact that the reader is allowed by Kafka into the consciousness of the hunger artist. The society in which the protagonist struggles to live a life of artistic integrity may not understand him, but the reader is certainly given enough insight to be able to begin to understand what makes this particular man both artist and hero.

However, the hunger artist is hardly stripped of his mystery by the author. Kafka reveals much of the thought process of the hunger artist, and even, in the next-to-last paragraph of the story, appears to explain the source of the character's compulsion, but in the end the protagonist remains a mystery at least in part. Certainly, if we see him as a hero, it is not a heroism which is understood or appreciated by society. The people around the hunger artist would be utterly bewildered to hear this man referred to as a hero.

To the protagonist himself, however, his heroism consists of his maintenance of integrity in a pursuit which transcends everyday concerns. He is, in fact, not only a hero but a tragic hero. A truly noble individual, he is driven to the end by a desire which is, in a sense, beyond his control. If it is true that he fasted simply because, as he says, "I couldn't find the food I liked" (898), then his life and art are trul

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which are rooted not so much in society but in the soul or the subconscious. The hunger artist is seen by those around as being strange, bizarre, because they do not see him as fully human. After all, he refuses to do something basic to life--to eat food. Watching this artist fast in his cage transports the people to some peculiar consciousness beyond their familiar everyday world, although it is unlikely they could articulate that consciousness. The hunger artist's art in that sense can be compared to the work of abstract artists whose painting, or performance works, fascinate and sometimes threaten or frighten the mundane lives of the people in any society. The artist is a peculiar blend of the human and the non-human in terms of his pursuits and goals. He both compels and confuses the people. This confusion disappears when the hunger artist is replaced by a fully non-human creature, a young panther which compels without confusing (899). Never does a truly human or spiritual connection exist between the hunger artist and the public. There is rising and fading interest on the part of the people, but it is never accompanied by anything resembling understanding of the strange man whose life purpose is to not eat. The hunger arti

Category: Literature - K