"A Hunger Artist" Analysis
“A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka Analysis Through a Single Element
“A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka is a story of a “hunger artist” that wants to show the public the art of fasting, but along the way peoples’ interests declined and caused the hunger artist to join the circus. At the circus he was not anything important, even the circus managers forgot about him. His drive to fast caused him to die of a heavy, unsatisfied, hungry heart. The limited omniscience view that is created by the narrator is the dominant element in this story. By the narrator revealing the thoughts and feelings of the hunger artist we are able to capture the theme and perspective of the story. Going through life, and never being satisfied may hinder the public’s view of one’s motivations, and personal motivations or interests may never be seen from the perspective one desires.
The hunger artist’s has the desire to embrace the world with fasting. We see this thoroughly throughout the story, and in fact, this is a huge component of the story. The hunger artist is the main character who is extremely motivated to fast. His determination and passion for fasting is revealed through the point of view in this story. His character wants to be taken serious, and felt that no one took him seriously due to the mistrust and temptations of the public for food. The growing mistrust for his art is apparent, and this frustrated him. “Such suspicions, anyhow, were necessary accompaniment to the profession of fasting. “(Kafka, 636) The hunger artist had chosen a profession that only he could truly know the beauty of. The perspectives of the outside world did not take his art as serious as he did. They could not understand his fulfillment in what he does, because in fasting, it is the lesson that one learns through the process of going without. “Just try to explain to anyone the art of fasting! Anyone who has no feeling for it cannot be made to understand it.”(Kafka, 639)
This story used imagery often,
“A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka is a story of a “hunger artist” that wants to show the public the art of fasting, but along the way peoples’ interests declined and caused the hunger artist to join the circus. At the circus he was not anything important, even the circus managers forgot about him. His drive to fast caused him to die of a heavy, unsatisfied, hungry heart. The limited omniscience view that is created by the narrator is the dominant element in this story. By the narrator revealing the thoughts and feelings of the hunger artist we are able to capture the theme and perspective of the story. Going through life, and never being satisfied may hinder the public’s view of one’s motivations, and personal motivations or interests may never be seen from the perspective one desires.
The hunger artist’s has the desire to embrace the world with fasting. We see this thoroughly throughout the story, and in fact, this is a huge component of the story. The hunger artist is the main character who is extremely motivated to fast. His determination and passion for fasting is revealed through the point of view in this story. His character wants to be taken serious, and felt that no one took him seriously due to the mistrust and temptations of the public for food. The growing mistrust for his art is apparent, and this frustrated him. “Such suspicions, anyhow, were necessary accompaniment to the profession of fasting. “(Kafka, 636) The hunger artist had chosen a profession that only he could truly know the beauty of. The perspectives of the outside world did not take his art as serious as he did. They could not understand his fulfillment in what he does, because in fasting, it is the lesson that one learns through the process of going without. “Just try to explain to anyone the art of fasting! Anyone who has no feeling for it cannot be made to understand it.”(Kafka, 639)
This story used imagery often,