Paper Topic:

“A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka. (Expository Writing)

THE HUMAN CONDITION IN KAFKA 'S A HUNGER ARTIST

In A Hunger Artist , Kafka presents a view on the deformity of the human condition by twisting generally accepted notions . Using simple , clear and linear narrative , Kafka relates the story of the hunger artist and yet for all its simplicity it is laced with the absurd and at the same time with profound reality . The behavior of the hunger artist and the public corresponds with the aspirations of any man who dreams of making a breakthrough in his chosen field of passion and the

whimsical public 's inability to appreciate such endeavors . Lastly , in an ironic twist Kafka also shows that the artist himself is not true to his passion showing another facet of how deformed the human condition could be

All throughout the story Kafka twists popular notions to reflect another side of the human psyche to make readers rethink what they have always accepted as general truths . For example , Kafka wrote that no public fasting went for more than forty days . One would think that he alluding to the Biblical fact that Jesus fasted for forty days , and henceforth it has been customary especially for Christians to fast for the same amount of days , generally believing that it is the most number of days that one can go on without food . However , in his story , Kafka explains that the public fast went no longer than forty days because after the fortieth day the public loses its interest and paid less attention to the hunger spectacle . Thus , whereas fasting is generally regarded as an act of self-cleansing and sacrifice , in the story Kafka uses it merely as entertainment , with no religious value at all . More than that , fasting lost its traditional essence of cleansing and sacrifice , because the hunger artist was doing it not to deprive himself but because he desired personal glory in completing the forty day period without food

The hunger artist treated his fasting as his passion , and if he had his way would even go on to see just how long he could fast . By proclaiming himself an artist , he has regarded his fasting as a craft . Honing a craft meant working hard at it , and striving to exceed one 's limitations to create something new . The hunger artist behaved this way - he felt that he could endure more days of fasting and that he wanted to break his own record and the show the world just how long he can last . It seems like he is a genuine artist , for even after the public has grown tired of him he pursued his dream of going beyond the forty days , even if it was taboo . However , at the end of the story the hunger artist makes a confession that it was truly easy for him to fast because he never really found anything that he wanted to eat , and if only he did he would not even fast , he would stuff himself with it . This breaks...

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