Example Of Essay On A Hunger Artist

Franz Kafka, a German novelist is regarded as one of the artists that made great contributions and impacts in literature. His book A Hunger Artists, is the last one that he wrote before his death. The book has varieties of thematic messages. Some of them are art, isolation, spiritual poverty, personal failure, and futility. Kafka’s main agenda when he compiled the book is still not well identified. The story has always proven difficult to interpret even by professional reviewers. It revolves around one character, the hunger artist who is also the protagonist. This paper will give an overview of summary and analysis of the book.
In his the book Hunger artist fasts for forty days as he travels to a European town with his manager (impresario). On his journey, he decides to stay in each town. He takes sometime and stays in various strategic positions. In each town, he is assigned men, mostly butchers to ensure that he does not eat. Hunger artist feels annoyed when the butchers turn blind eyes on him, allowing him get tempted to steal some food. In order to prove that he is does not eat, he sings to the butchers. They, however, think that he has only mastered and defined the art of singing and eating simultaneously. As he continues fasting, he is disappointed by the way the townspeople deny him his freedom to fast. The townspeople, however, believe that the cause of his melancholy is nothing but hunger. As a result of their sympathy, they force him out from the cage against his will. He feels dissatisfied and misunderstood by the spectators. He would always act in fury whenever a spectator sympathized with him. His continuous fasting provides a leeway to his death in the cage.
Analyzed, Kafka’s story has a close and undisputed relationship and similarity to that of Christ in the Bible. As the hunger artist stay in each town, there are audience, mainly butchers watching at him as he fasts. This can be compared to Christ’s humble nature, and interaction with rich people in the New Testament. Most people in town where the hunger artist stays misunderstand his melancholy relating it to hunger, when he does not want any sympathy from the crowd. He is determined to fast. This is a similar case to the misunderstanding of Christ’s role on earth by the people he came across during his ministry. Another similarity between Kafka’s story to that of Christ is the number forty. Christ took forty days fasting, so did the hunger artist. The butchers think that the hunger artist has defined an art of singing and eating at the same time. This is related to the claim that Christ had other roles besides being a savior. The hunger artist dies at the cage after a long period of fasting, this similar to Christ’s death after several days of work as a savior.
The book is scriptural and allegorical in nature. It represents what most people, especially the righteous ones, undergo in the contemporary societies. The protagonist is undergoing what few people would ever imagine of undergoing. The story would, as well, superficially give a meaning of an artist who is struggling to do his best, but is rejected by his own people.