The Cycle Of Absurdity In Kafka’s A Hunger Artist Essays Example

People are so absorbed with the peculiarity of the unknown in that some people strive to become artists specializing in these trades just to become famous. Franz Kafka, in his short story, A Hunger Artist, successfully satirizes the cycle of people’s waning curiosity and interest in the mundane and the subsequent artists who do these things for fame. Kafka’s story shows a critical ridicule of this cycle in an act contradictory to the purpose of a way of living through the hunger artist and his act of fasting.
The intention of distinguishing oneself from his peers has resulted in people trying to find fame in a variety of activities in the hope that it will garner public attention and fame. This trend is something that has not died out and is still evident today. It is not too uncommon to find people who try the most dangerous of activities just to plummet themselves into instant fame. The absurdity of the act, which in turn can be called foolishness turns into a cycle of people trying to do something which no man has ever done before. Kafka’s hunger artist then jabs on this very critical issue which seems to never die out.
The hunger artist fundamentally contradicts the very purpose of a job and of living: to be able to eat and survive. In exchange for fame, the artist puts himself at risk through fasting: an act which could very well endanger and even kill him at any point. The artist’s pride is also highlighted in that he believes he can become the best at what he does even though no one particularly pays him any attention. Another issue then that Kafka tackles here is the supposed fervent public interest in the act of fasting during the past decades. Fasting, which is only often used as a political tool or in a religious way is made into an art wherein people watch to see how long the artist can last. Public interest is criticized in that no matter how mundane an act is, people seem to enjoy it and quickly grow tired of it.
The public’s interest in the unknown, mundane, and peculiar has always been the target of artists and of media attention. The act of flocking around a cage to watch a man fast, for example, calls into attention the foolishness upon which entertainment is based on. Another example of this can be seen through people who flock around crime scenes, who instead of being frightened put their curiosity first and foremost. The end of the story also signifies this phenomenon through the panther. People will always want to see the unknown: that, which they have never seen before. However, once this curiosity is sated, they lose interest and find something new. This becomes an endless cycle of artists trying to catch the public’s attention and the subsequent loss of interest in these artists.
Kafka’s story then is a successful satirical account of the cycle of fame and public interest. The extremity of this cycle shows the absurdity of the extent to which people will go to just to get famous. Although the hunger artist claims that he had no choice but to continue fasting, his very decision to even go that far is questionable. Kafka’s story is very relevant in that as time passes, the absurdity of the cycle intensifies due to people losing interest in more and more unknown activities. In order to become famous then, some people will go as far as endangering themselves just so they can claim to have done something new. That very thought is an idea that should be culled but has never been truly been addressed even in today’s society.