Introduction to Symbolism in “A Hunger Artist”
Symbolism in “A Hunger Artist” peeps through every line. The characters in stories, as Foster says, are not what they are. They symbolize something else, as Jane in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a symbol of women who are restricted within their boundaries and face hallucinations because of their restrictions. However, with great artists, it is sometimes different. It happens that somebody becomes too much obstinate to make a name that he not only inflicts injuries to himself but also makes others feel discomfort. The story of the hunger artist told by Franz Kafka is written in the same vein. In fact, it could be stated in Foster’s words that it is quite “unfortunate that genius was harnessed to someone who may not have worn it well” (Foster 139). He was not suited to become this type of artist, or he should have used this intelligence for some other purpose. It has been suggested that this sort of ridiculous relationship is often common as it shows that “this sort of macabre relationship between performer and audience is common” (Lecture 4). At the same time, the hunger artist wants to become a name among his audience so that they should appreciate him. However, when he is at the peak of his career and the interest of the public is alive, his manager cheats on him. When he crosses all of his previous records, the public loses interest in him. The great mistake that he makes is that he tells everybody that “it is the easiest thing in the world” (489). It leads the people to become disenchanted with him, thinking he is not doing any feat. Therefore, the hunger artist symbolizes the loss of the interest of the people through his own blunder though he chooses something that does not have any value, while the relations he builds with his audience are based on his own disenchantment.
Symbol of Hunger Artist: Symbolism in “A Hunger Artist”
The hunger artist symbolizes a person who has no other skill except his hunger or the power to overcome his hunger that he shows to the people through symbolism in “A Hunger Artist”. In fact, these sorts of people are found in a society doing bizarre things to impress others so that they could win the public approval and applause. He thinks that he could always be treated as the cynosure of the people. They also form their own code of honor as they consider themselves artists as in the case of this hunger artist who does not eat because “his code of honor as an artist forbade it” (Kafka 488). A great critic of Kafka, Noami Ritter has termed the hunger artists as the “ultimate symbol of suicide” (Ritter 72) because he knows that if he does not eat, he will die but the intoxication of winning public approval ultimately overpowers him that leads to his death. As stated by Foster, in fact, he is a genius who can overpower his hunger but he uses it wrongly but putting himself to suffering. Therefore, he loses the battle in the end when nobody comes to see him. It is also that he does not see the sudden transformation in times as people have more interesting things to see in the circus. He is also a symbol of eating which attracts people and not what he does for the public.
Public and Symbolism in “A Hunger Artist”
The strange thing about the hunger artist is the selection of his medium that he wants to connect with his audience. This is his hunger. Most artist chooses what they have a profession or make some art as their profession to earn their livelihood. However, it is never shown in the story. The only thing that he considered important was the glory that he was winning by fasting as he thought about the people who “want to rob him of the glory of fasting longer” (490) that he wanted to have had. The matter is that the attraction of the artists is built on the validity of the art that stays up-to-date with the changing times. The problem with his art is that it has a limited marketability and its perfection is in death that he would no more be able to enjoy what others see him with pleasure. Gray in his book A Franz Kafka Encyclopedia states the same thing. His view is that Kafka has shown a mirror to the people that an artist does not exist without the public and if he forgets himself, nobody cares to think about him as happened with the hunger artist where Kafka leaves his readers “with the question whether art can exist if there is no audience” and his answer is in negative as the hunger artist is left alone at the end (Gray 7).
Audience and Symbolism in “A Hunger Artist”
Although at one point, Kafka is also right. Suffering is involved when it is the matter of audience because sometimes artists and performers die merely because they want to win the hearts of their spectators. However, this is the rule of the plays that the audience wants to see suffering whether it is tragedy or comedy. It is another thing that when there is no audience, the actor or performance becomes his/her audience himself. The idea of Kafka through through symbolism in “A Hunger Artist” is marketability that when a performer loses his/her worth, he/she is no more kept in mind and nobody pays attention to what a great artist that person might have been in the past. This makes the artist turns away from his/her audience. It is a turning point as Celeste Escobar says in her article on the story that “The turning point towards his complete disconnection with the humanity outside begins. This transition is possible through the means of his art that makes him bear life” (Escobar). By this, she means that he gets disillusioned because the people start ignoring him at the end seeing through this symbolism in “A Hunger Artist”.
Effectiveness of Symbolism in “A Hunger Artist”
However, when he is seen in the graphic version of the story, he seems to have aroused sympathy as is shown just a handful of bones at the end when the supervisor gives him his ears (Mairowitz & Crumb 153). However, it is more effective in the prose form where it is told that he does not seem to exist as he has become a straw with straws. It is clear from this that at the end the circus workers came and “poked into the straw with sticks and found the hunger artists underneath” where he is so weak that he even cannot speak (Kafka 496). Therefore, he turns his wish toward his desire that he could not find anything to eat due to which he fasted. It is actually the hunger for popularity that brings him to his grave. Therefore, the prose is more effective with symbolism in “A Hunger Artist” than the picture where he is shown as an active person.
Conclusion
In short, the hunger artist is a symbol of those demagogues and artists who inflict self-injuries to gladden their audience and attract people but they lose their lives in the game. This interpretation through symbolism in “A Hunger Artist” shows that the hunger artist could not assess that the thin thread of his relationship with his audience could break at any time when he loses his worth but he does not know that his art would lose its worth. The pleasure-seeking audience turns their back to him and he becomes satisfied with the perfection of his performance which is his death. However, this is more persuasive and beautiful in prose than in graphics.
Works Cited
- Escobar, Celeste. “A Hunger Artist.” Panorama. 03 July 2003. Web. 30 July 2015.
- Foster, C. Thomas. How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Harper Perenial. 2009. Print.
- Gray, T. Richard. A Franz Kafka Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2005. Print.
- Kafka, Franz. “A Hunger Artists” Charters, Anne. The Story and Its Writer. New York: Bedford /St. Martins, 2014. 488-494
- Mairowitz, David Zane & Robert Crumb. Kafka. Fantagrahics Books. Seattle. 2009. Print.
- Ritter, Noami. Art as Spectacle: Images of the Entertainer Since Romanticism. University of Missouri Press. 1996. Print.
Relevant Questions about Symbolism in “A Hunger Artist”
- How does the repeated act of fasting and the barren cage serve as powerful symbols of the alienation and disconnect from society experienced by the protagonist in “A Hunger Artist,” and how does this symbolism contribute to the overall meaning of the story?
- What is the significance of the audience’s changing tastes and preferences for entertainment as a symbol in “A Hunger Artist,” and how does this symbolism comment on society’s tendency to trivialize and forget the suffering and artistry of those who deviate from the norm, as depicted in the story’s events?
- How does the symbolism in “A Hunger Artist” surrounding the panther, which replaces the hunger artist in the circus, convey the theme of liberation and the longing for a more primal and authentic existence, and how does this symbolism contrast with the hunger artist’s self-imposed suffering throughout the narrative?