Kafka's Hunger Artist
Kafka, in his masterpiece "The Hunger Artist," suggests that humans can never satisfy their desires. This is illustrated through the metaphorical hunger artist for whom nourishment is not being nourished at all. The viewing public's interest is derived from their desire to see the hunger artist cheating, but to view this would put an end to that desire. Finally, Kafka presents this idea while the artist is at the circus and describing when people wish to view the starved man.
The hunger artist's nourishment is spiritual. The man only wishes to be honored by the public. As he continuously spirals downward in his health, he looses all forms of material nourishment. As the days go on, there is conflict between the artist and the audience, as they do not believe him honest in claiming not to have eaten. By searching for the audience's approval, a symbol for spiritual nourishment, he loses both material and spiritual nourishment. The climax of the story occurs when he finally achieves his final goal which he believes will give...
However, the author 's interpretations of Jefferson 's decisions and their connection to modern politics are intriguing, to say the least. In 1774, Jefferson penned A Summary View of the Rights of British America and, later, in 1775, drafted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (Ellis 32-44). According to Ellis, the documents act as proof that Jefferson was insensitive to the constitutional complexities a Revolution held as his interpretation of otherwise important matters revolved around his “pattern of juvenile romanticism” (38). Evidently, the American colonies’ desire for independence from the mother country was a momentous decision that affected all thirteen colonies. However, in Ellis’ arguments, Thomas Jefferson’s writing at the time showed either his failure to acknowledge the severity of the situation or his disregard of the same. Accordingly, as written in the American Sphinx, Jefferson’s mannerisms in the first Continental Congress and Virginia evokes the picture of an adolescent instead of the thirty-year-old man he was at the time (Ellis 38). It is no wonder Ellis observes Thomas Jefferson as a founding father who was not only “wildly idealistic” but also possessed “extraordinary naivete” while advocating the notions of a Jeffersonian utopia that unrestrained
This story progresses through the artist’s life as he fasted for many days, doing this eventually led to his death. The artist starts in a cage that is on display for everyone to see and does this for forty days at which point the impresario would force him to come out and eat some food. After the artist was done eating, he would relocate to the cage for the reason that he wanted to prove to people that fasting is easy. After a while of doing this the people grew tired and decided not to come and watch him. After the impresario and the artist then went around to other places to see if anyone would watch him and wonder why he did what he did. After a while the artist went to a carnival too fast for people who visited. He requested the carnival to place him next to the animals instead of being the center of attention. He requested the carnival to keep the number of days that he fasted, but after a few weeks the carnival stopped keeping track and so did the artist. At the end of the story the overseer asked why the hunger artist did what he did and the artist answered “because I couldn’t find the food I liked,” (Kafka 334). This shows that he was imprisoned himself due to the fact that he didn’t have the right kind of
In conclusion, “The Hunger Artist” successfully supplements “The Secret Society Of The Starving”. It shows their isolation in many ways. It shows their it in relation to the cage. It shows it through physical appearance, and it tells us why they remain isolated. Anorexia in both texts is important and while it may be underplayed in the fictional novel, it is very serious in reality.
There are many parallels and differences between Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and "A Hunger Artist". Kafka portrays these differences and similarities very effectively through his utilization of elements such as transformation, dehumanization, and dedication to work. Through his works, Kafka communicates with the reader in such a way that almost provokes and challenges one’s imagination and creativity.
John Quincy Adams was found completely naked in the Potomac River at five in the morning by Ann Royall. He was an avid swimmer and went out every morning to bathe and get ready for the day. Ann did her stalking to figure out that someone left the white house everyday around five so she followed him one morning to see if it could lead to an interview. Yes, he was a man of strange habits, but a necessary help for the nation. John Quincy Adams was a powerful figure who benefitted the government by keeping strong, positive foreign relations, voicing his powerful abolitionist opinions, and serving to advance college education.
In his essay The Law, Frederic Bastiat a Nineteenth century French political economist examines how the law has the potential to become a harmful tool in the hands of those in power. For Bastiat, the purpose of the law is to protect the God given individual rights and freedoms. The law becomes the defender of the natural rights. To accomplish this objective laws are meant to prevent actions that could harm others and their property. Bastiat was heavily influenced by John Locke’s ideas on government exposed on Second Treatise on Government, he believed in a small government with the role to protect the individual liberties and property rights.
...Once more the odious courtesies began, the first handed the knife across K. to the second, who handed it across K. back again to the first. K. now perceived clearly that he was supposed to seize the knife himself, as it traveled from hand to hand above him, and plunge it into his own breast. But he did not do so, he merely turned his head, which was still free to move, and gazed around him. He could not completely rise to the occasion, he could not relieve the officials of all their tasks; the responsibility for this last failure of his lay with him who had not left him the remnant of strength necessary for the deed....
Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn't something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step. There's no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That's the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.
An enigmatic storyteller, Franz Kafka's legacy has long remained the subject of many writings on existential literature. His stories explore themes which are so depressing, and at times seem so futile, as to put off many a reader while entrancing yet another. The most popular of his works, The Trial is no less perplexing than its brethren, and a perfunctory examination leaves the reader distinctly unsatisfied. After all, what is the point of reading a two hundred odd page book about a man on trial if you never find out what he did, or if he's even guilty? It's tempting to suggest that, being an existential piece of literature, the point is that there is no point. However, Kafka's work is so multi-faceted as to provide many other possible interpretations - a myriad of which are of much greater value than such a simplistic analysis. One of the more interesting angles to consider The Trial from consists of recognizing the story as one of Josef's troubled self-identity, and the characters in it as representative of a mental struggle with uncertainty and guilt. Examined in this light, the story ceases to feel so monotonous and dull, and the ending is ultimately less jarring and unexpected.
Kafka’s book “The Metamorphosis” is a story about the transformation and change of the entire Samsa family. Generally, we think of a metamorphosis as a transformation by which something grows up and out, consider the caterpillar for instance; this animal enters the cocoon and emerges into something bigger, stronger and more beautiful. With so much focus being on Gregor, it is assumed that he is the one who the book is titled for, but in fact, it is Grete. The metamorphosis the title refers to is about Greta’s transformation from a weak, young and needy teenager into a strong, outspoken young lady. Evidence of this can be seen in each of the three sections; where Gregor loses some piece of his former self, Greta slowly gains new unfound qualities
In “A Hunger Artist” Kafka portrays the artist as an obsessed person with starving himself. Not even death matter as long as he gets that attention he wants from society. Kafka wants society to be the reason that artist became they way he is now. “He worked with integrity, but the world cheated [the artist] of his reward” (Kafka 144). The Hunger Artist no longer has anything significant in his life but the only thing that makes him the way he is because he wants the public’s attention. Society demands are high and not easy to achieve, to the point where the artist was the center of attention in big cities with beautiful girls waiting to help him come out of his cage. But now he is in small cage, neglected by everyone, even when it comes to fasting “no one [counts] the days, no one, not even the hunger artist himself, [know] his extent of his achievement” (144). In the end, the hunger artist body could no longer sustain himself after the long-lasting fast, however society was moving on and he was not. Society was the downfall of his life, wanting public attention is not easy with a cruel society that demands change and new entertainment.
Food on the table reflects a positive relationship between Gregor and his family. When Gregor's father continues to eat his breakfast he demonstrates their relationship up to that point is still ok. By the time the table becomes empty the family is starting to resent Gregory for the emotional, physical, and financial burdens he is causing them. They also realize what this is doing to their family and that they do not know how to resolve
Franz Kafka's The Metemorphosis emphasizes alienation and dehumanization in many ways from being locked in a room to being abused by his own family. The purpose of Kafka writing this novella is to show us just because something or someone is different than us doesn't give us the right to judge and treat them in cruel
Hunger is a term that is often defined as the physical feeling for the need to eat. However, the Hunger Artist in Kafka's A Hunger Artist places a different, more complex meaning to this word, making the Hunger Artist's name rather ironic. The hunger of the Hunger Artist is not for food. As described at the end of the essay, the Hunger Artist states that he was in fact never hungry, he just never found anything that he liked. So then, what does this man's hunger truly mean? What drives the Hunger Artist to fast for so long, if he is truly not hungry? The Hunger Artist salivates not for the food which he is teased with, nor does he even sneak food when he alone. The Hunger Artist has a hunger for fame, reputation, and honor. This hunger seems to create in the mind of the Artist, a powerfully controlling dream schema. These dreams drive the Artist to unavoidable failure and alienation, which ultimately uncovers the sad truth about the artist. The truth is that the Artist was never an artist; he was a fraudulent outcast who fought to the last moment for fame, which ultimately became a thing of the past.
Franz Kafka's Judgement & nbsp; This short story by Franz Kafka is really a challenging one to interpret, but apparently there are some contextual clues that enable us to draw some logical conclusions out of the story. Firstly, we should handle this story in terms of human relationships; there are 3 kinds of relationships represented in the story. The first is the relationship between George (the main character of the story) and his friend in Russia; the second is George's relationship with his fiancée and the third is his relationship with his father. Each exposition of these relationships contradicts the persons involved. That is, while George is devoted to writing to a friend whom he hasn't seen for 3 years, he doesn't write about important events.