Melanie Damoth
Composition & Literature
Professor Levan
3 April 2013

A Hunger Artist- His Journey

In the book, “A Hunger Artist, “ Frank Kafka tells us a story of a showman called a hunger artist. Although very popular at one time, he is steadily losing his following. This hunger artist has seen and experienced quite an assortment of followers. Being a hunger artist, he lives up to quite exactly what the name say’s. Removing food from one’s life(fasting), while displaying one’s self in a cage, more than likely designed only for animals. On display, the artist only has but straw and a clock inside his domain. His followers ranged from young children , holding hands with pure excitement to the elderly and all in between. Some came in groups, some came alone and some even had what they call , “season tickets,” to see his act. The hunger artist was so popular that there was visiting hours put aside at night just for his big attraction. Of course, there was always your casual everyday onlookers, but especially those interested in the unusual acts. However, the permanent viewers of which the public townspeople chose to keep an eye on him, were ironically butchers. These butchers were put in place to “keep him honest,” should he succumb to the desire to have even the slightest morsel of food. His act included fourty days of fasting. This appears to be a bit much, looking at the snappy behavior at times in the cage by the artist. He seemed to exhibit episodes of pure melancholy, and a deep loss and longing for his fans. This loss brought about times of snapping at even the few drifters who stopped by his cage here and there. Imagine the fear, disappointment and sadness that the artist felt while crouched down, bony and lethargic, just waiting for the same masses to come visit him. Now it was not what it used to be. He often thought “why isn’t this cage posted somewhere other than on the way to the animals?” The visiting hours that many came to experience the hunger artist were now thinning out, almost disappearing. He questioned a lot of this in his mind. How come the people that once ate their breakfast in front of his cage, suddenly disappear? The very people that were so enthralled by his ability to fast, and break records were just not interested anymore. This act, afterall, was his livelihood. He now had to say goodbye to everything he had worked so hard to achieve through his fasting act. In the end, when they came to examine his cage, they did not even know he was in there. They poked around in the straw and found him lying about still fasting. Nobody knew why he would possibly still be withholding food from himself. Was it so he could have an inflamed sense of self-worth? Was it the knowledge that none of his onlookers could possibly go as long as he did without food? They were not even aware that he was still fasting. He tells them that the reason for such long fasts, is that there simply is not any food that he liked to eat. They did not appreciate his suffering. Burying him with his straw and replacing him for a panther, wiped out all memory of his existence. Now people would come see a large black cat roam the cage, and watch the panther eat all kinds of food that he did enjoy. Very ironic in the end that his fans would much rather sit, watch, and enjoy hours of a ravenous eater, when he spent his whole career getting them to admire how he could go long periods of time without any food or nourishment. Fasting in the end was replaced with eating, and our hunger artist now just a distant memory in only days. When one thinks of this story, one can only come to the conclusion that life moves too fast for the slow paced, methodical faster, of the hunger artist. People would rather watch the playful, fast maneuver of wild beasts, and beautiful colors in an evermoving fast paced world. Sorry and goodbye to you starving hunger artist lay it rest in peace and perhaps you can fast much in heaven where they have eternity to watch your bony figure lie about haplessly in the cage of your choice. There is, afterall, noweone in the afterlife who will tear you away from your goal of fourty days of fast, so you can finally hold the new title of supreme hunger artist.