Introduction to Comparison of “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
Like the stories, “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”no two pieces of literature are the same, it happens that sometimes two pieces bear resemblance even though two artists do the same work in different situations, in different environments, and under the influence of different philosophies and ideas. Gabriel Garcia Marques, the proponent of magical realism, has no resemblance with Kafka of the same country as both have lived in different times, yet there are several points in their stories “The Hunger Artists” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” that resemble each other. On the character level, the old man with wings could be compared to the hunger artist of Kafka in that both have bizarre mental and physical traits that a normal person can possess and they differ from each other in this in this connection. At the same time, there is a great resemblance in the setting in which they are set that readers get a different picture from one story as compared to the other. The setting of both the stories in terms of audience differs a great deal. It is also that whereas one is demonstrating magical realism, the other is showing Kafkaesque philosophy of self-inflicted torture only to amuse the readers. It could be stated that the hunger artists have no whatsoever resemblance to the old man with enormous wings but their handlers such as the manager of the hunger artists and Pleyaho and Elisenda bear a resemblance. Both managers and administrators of these two different characters manipulate them to their own ends. The role of the audience, too, is very important in both that in both situations, the people get bored with time and lose their interest. Therefore, the stories “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”could be compared on the level of setting, the role of the audience, the interests of the handlers of the respective main characters, and then the difference in the philosophy presented in these stories.
Setting in “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
Whereas the setting is concerned, it bears a certain resemblance. The hunger artist is dying to win the attention of the public and he succeeds in winning it in the beginning when the people come in queues to see him bearing the pangs of hunger. Kafka clearly states in the beginning that the “audience’s involvement grew from day to day” (Kafka 489), when he starts fasting. The children were keener to look at him. The hunger artist is placed in a rural environment where he can show his skill of bearing hunger to the people. The people come in throngs to watch his feat. A manager is arranging everything for him though he is lying to the people. In explaining the story, Richard To Garry states that “Throngs of spectators are drawn” within the given setting where no geographical point has been given or explained (Garry 132). However, the setting of the story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is entirely different because. There is a geographical location of the village where Pelayo and Elisenda live and the old man, somehow, falls in their yard. However, the situation is almost the same in that throngs of people queue up to watch this with great interest as the whole “neighborhood [was] [there to see the] angel” (Marquez 802). The major difference lies in the geographical location. It is not specified in the case of the hunger artists as he has been taken to tour the entire Europe, whereas, in the case of Pelayo and Elisenda, it is their village where they have become rich enough to have their son treated and construct their homes afresh. However, both of these resemble in narrator that in both there is an omniscient narrator who sits somewhere high above the setting and the character and comments on their lives. Literally, there is a carnival in this story, while it seems almost the same scene in the first one “The Hunger Artist” where it is a game for the people (Pelayo 72). Therefore, to some extent the setting in terms of the carnival type of presentation is similar in both stories “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.”
Handlers in “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
However, the great similarity lies in handlers in “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” The handler in the case of the hunger artist is his nameless manager. The artist whispers whatever he feels to the manager who starts or ends his show whenever he wants but against his will of what he wants to say to the people. There was clearly a world of misunderstanding as the artist does not want to convey to the people what he wants to convey and the manager does not convey to the people what the artist wants to say. “This perversion of the truth … unnerved him” (492) though he does not show it to the people but feels it strongly. Although there are not much active audiences in the case of the very old man with wings, still Pelayo and Elisenda have some other people who do the work for them to make it known such as the neighbor woman “who knew everything” (803). She has concluded that he is an angel and has also done the work of spreading the news in the whole village. Several others also comment about him, and Father Gonzaga, too, declares otherwise, the managers set a ticket for the show. Soon they start earning in the same way as the manager of the hunger artist has done. In one way, there is no difference between both the managers as one is completely aware of the lies that are being told disregard of whatever he thinks, while in the case of the old man, all lies have been concocted not by the managers but by the people living around them. However, the interests of all these managers in both stories are the same which is to earn something for a living. It is because the owners, Marquez writes “had not reason to lament” because they have saved enough to “built a two-story mansion with balconies and gardens” (805) while in the case of the hunger artist, the circus hirs him after he loses his worth. The interest is again money in both stories “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.”
Audiences/Readers of “The Hunger Artist” and “Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
Although the writers’ audiences are their readers, both stories “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” have separate audiences. In the first story “The Hunger Artist” the audience comes to see the feat of the hunger artist that he shows them in the shape of fasting for a long time. He is intoxicated with the popularity that he is winning among the people. They are coming to watch him in queues. When the show ends, the audiences are satisfied with what they see but the artist is not satisfied. With the passage of time, the behavior of people changes. It is because the public wants to see something new, not the same old person going hungry for them. Therefore, the hunger artist is “deserted by the pleasure-seeking crowds” (384). It means that the audience has lost interest in him. Therefore, he joins a circus but then the people only come to see the animals placed near him. They do not think to have any interest in him. He loses his worth and his life with time. The same happens with the old man. The people come to see him in queues when they hear the news. However, with the passage of time, they lose interest in him and soon they forget that there is an angel, or a devil in the midst of them. However, at the same time, there is a difference because in the first story the audience does not see a strange creature but a living man like them who is doing a feat of fasting longer than an ordinary man can do. However, in the case of the second, there is a strange creature like an angel that is before the audience and they lose interest after looking at him. There may have been the possibility that the managers would have taken this angel to a world tour and made the whole world take an interest, but it is a farfetched idea. It is merely the use of magical realism to show how people lose interest howsoever strange thing may be there.
Eccentrics in “The Hunger Artist” and “Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
However, in the garb of this artist, Kafka has presented the role of people and the nature of some eccentrics who inflict injuries on themselves merely because they want to entertain the people, knowing little that the people always want something new, not caring that the artist is losing his life. It could be that Kafka’s philosophy is to show his own situation he was placed in. A lecturer in English, Bushra Naz, states that “The Hunger Artist” is seen as an ensemble of signs and signifiers” (Naz 71-75). By this, she means that it is the biography of the artist and the conceptualization of his philosophy into his story that is being reflected through his characters. She has also commented on his other novel, The Metamorphosis, to show the inner self of the artist. However, in the case of Gabriel Garica Marquez, it is his magical realism, a technique, with which he presents esoteric and stranger characters in a situation where the willing suspension of disbelief of T. S. Eliot is automatically at work. The people start believing that it could happen to them, too. Magical realism lies at the heart of the storytelling art of Garcia Marquez but at the same time, he does not leave attacking the current realities of life (Kennedy). Therefore, both stories depict the philosophies and ideas of the writers.
Conclusion
It is also that both the major characters the hunger artists as well as the old man with enormous wings are symbols in the stories, “The Hunger Artist” and “Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” However, in the case of Kafka, the hunger artist is a symbol of an artist who goes through pain to please the people living around him. In terms of setting, audiences, and characters, the stories have certain resemblances but the timing and the purposes could be different for which theoretical purposes could be applied to both stories to have deeper understanding.
Works Cited
- Kafka, Franz. “A Hunger Artists” Charters, Anne. The Story and Its Writer. New York: Bedford /St. Martins, 2014. 488-494.
- Garry, Richard, T. A Franz Kafka Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press. 2005. Print. 74-92.
- Pelayo, Ruben. Gabriel Garica Marquez. Greenwood Press. 2001. Print. 72-73.
- Naz, Bushra. “Hope of Death as the Possibility of Life: A Psychosemiotic Reading of Franz Kafka”s The Hunger Artist as the Narrative of Existence into Non-Being.” PJSS. 31(1). (June 2011). 65-77.
- Kennedy. “ The Origins of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Magic Realism.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic. 17 April 2014. Web. 07 Aug. 2015.
Questions:
- How do the themes of isolation and alienation manifest in “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” and what do they reveal about the human condition in each story?
- Both “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” feature characters who are outsiders or marginalized in society. How do the authors use these characters to comment on the treatment of those who are different or unusual?
- In “The Hunger Artist,” the protagonist seeks to express himself through extreme self-deprivation, while in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” the focus is on the mysterious arrival of a supernatural being. How do these different narrative approaches shape the stories’ messages about human fascination and cruelty?
- The concept of spectacle and entertainment plays a significant role in both stories, with the hunger artist’s fasting and the old man with wings becoming a sideshow attraction. How do these narratives explore the ethics of exploiting others for entertainment and profit?
- “The Hunger Artist” and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” both challenge conventional notions of reality and the supernatural. How do the authors use elements of the surreal and the fantastical to comment on the limitations of human understanding and belief systems in these stories?