"A Hunger Artist"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Franz Kafka's "A Hunger Artist" (otherwise translated from German as "A Fasting Artist"), which is a strange and compelling short story that revolves around the themes of artistic alienation and suffering. The paper describes the work as both fantastic and real at the same time and discusses these two aspects of the story. The paper also divides the structure of the story into three sections and explains each of them.

From the Paper:

"In the end the hunger artist has no choice but to choose the career that he does. While it is not realistic in the ordinary common sense meaning of the word, in terms of his difference and alienation from others, it is the only choice for him. It is in fact the only reality that he can endure. By using the metaphor and symbol in the story, Kafka is able to present a very convincing and penetrating story that enables the reader to understand the often strange life of the artist in a society that does not accept him. The entire story can therefore be seen as a metaphor of artistic suffering and the indifference of the world to the artistic way of seeing reality. Therefore on the one hand the story is unrealistic and fantastic but on the other hand it enables us to understand reality from a perspective other then the ordinary."

Sample of Sources Used:

• A Hunger Artist. October 15, 2006. http://www.lundwood.u-net.com/ahunga.htm

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