Research Paper Short Story: "A Hunger Artist"

The author that I am researching for my paper is Franz Kafka. We read a few of his most famous short stories in class, however the story "A Hunger Artist" is also an extremely unique and interesting piece of work by Kafka. The protagonist in the story is The Hunger Artist and he fasts for a living while traveling to different European towns. While in these towns he sits in a cage and fasts for all in the town to watch.

The Hunger Artist has a manager known as the impresario. The hunger artist believes that the impresario stands in the way of his full potential and makes him appear weaker than he actually is. The hunger artist mentions that the impresario only allows him to stay in the cage without eating for forty days when he says that in reality he could last much longer then that. The impresario also makes a big show of the hunger artist coming out the box and acts as though he is extremely frail; the hunger artist makes it clear that this is not the case at all. The hunger artist becomes frustrated by many things throughout the short story, the first being the impresario. Also he get annoyed that the people in the towns always think that he is cheating and secretly eating food when no one is looking. Later, when his fame begins to die down he gets frustrated by the lack of attention he receives.

Throughout the story the artist is separated from society which is shown through him being in a cage. He feels as if society does not understand him because of their accusations of him cheating. There is also an evident theme of pride shown by the hunger artist. His pride eventually leads to his downfall because he wants everyone to notice him and he wants to be the greatest faster but ultimately he dies in his attempt. The panther at the end of the short story is exactly opposite from the hunger artist. The panther is full of life and hunger as compared to the hunger artist who was lifeless and weak. It is ironic how much attention the panther gets in the very same cage that the hunger artist used to perform and get no attention at all.

Based on reading the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka I am noticing a theme of Kafka incorporating loely, misunderstood characters into his stories. Also, the main characters of his stories usually have problems with male authority. This is significant because of the poor relationship that Kafka had with his father as a young boy. I look forward to being able to research Kafka more and exploring to see if these commonalities persist through more of his works of literature.