A Hunger Artist, Franz Kafka

The Hunger Artist endured many emotions and thoughts similar to those of the narrator from “Hunger”. This experience of the hunger artist however, gave me a different view. It portrayed how this hunger artist was thirsty for fame and although he first admitted that he liked to fast, in fact, what he really meant was he liked the attention but what he really wanted was to eat like the rest of society.

“The hunger artist would never, under any circumstances, have eaten the slightest thing, not even if compelled by force. The honor of his art forbade it.” (1) I understood from this quote that the hunger artist had a lot of pride like the protagonist of “Hunger”. He was proud of his capability to fast, to starve. He was proud to have the attention on him. The protagonist of “Hunger” had a lot of pride not because he wanted to retain his image as a hunger artist but rather because he had too much pride to beg for food. He wanted to retain his image as a popular, comfortable living guy. Begging would really bring down his class status.

Another similarity between these two characters is that they both have trouble sleeping:

“Generally he couldn’t sleep at all…” (2) The Hunger Artist as demonstrated from this quote could not sleep. Additionally, the protagonist of “Hunger” couldn’t either because both their minds are constantly buzzing with thoughts. Their mind and emotions distract them from the desires that their body craves for. The hunger artist did not understand this; he did not understand that he had to make his body happy because his mind and body were connected. “…there were no limits to his capacity of fasting.” (3) – I disagree with this quote completely. There is a limit! His body cannot take so much; his physical appearance is proof of that!

Moreover, both characters have sudden bursts of rage: “the hunger artist responded with an outburst of rage and began to shake the cage like an animal, frightening everyone.” (4) These rages are symptoms of starvation. With a lack of food, one gets impatient and frustrated very easily. I personally know that when I am hungry, I become a different person altogether. I become much more impatient, frustrated and grumpier. This explains how the hunger artist explains his mood to be “usually gloomy, and it kept growing gloomier all the time…” (4) Also, I noted how the hunger artist was compared to an animal. This then connects to the fact when he leaves to join the circus and is placed in the area of animals. This shouts out another message to readers. Both characters were hardly recognized to be humans because firstly, they were physically very weak and secondly, they were mentally unstable. They were not human anymore. They were like wild animals, running around in the jungle. Uncontrollable.