A Hunger Artist

Topic: Franz Kafka: A Hunger Artist (Plot analysis, characterization, themes, style)
Subject: Short Fictional Narratives

Week/Lecture # 7
Class: BS English
Semester: 3rd
Teacher: Saima Perveen
Department of English
Institute of Southern Punjab, Multan
Outline
Introduction to Franz Kafka
Title significance of A Hunger Artist
Plot analysis of A Hunger Artist
Setting & character
Literary Elements and Themes
Franz Kafka
Lived from 1883-1924
Born in Prague to a middle class Jewish family
Worked in insurance for most of his life to pay the bills, alongside
his writing
Engaged to be married twice
Died of Tuberculosis at the age of 40
Kafka wrote in the style of Modernism
Style of his writing was so influential that the term "Kafkaesque"
was created to describe works like his
• Modernism was a new style of writing that broke from
traditional writing
• One can see that The Hunger Artist is written is a very
different and controversial way, while it also deals with a
strange and crazy subject
• 3rd Person Omniscient, has access to the Artist's inner
thoughts and feelings
• The Artist's internal conflict is not being happy with his
fasting because he is not fully trusted by the public
• We learn much more of the "behind the scenes" of the
Hunger Artist's daily life, we see the story from his
perspective and not the audience's
Works
Novels Short Stories
1925: The Trial 1913: The Stoker: A Fragment

1926: The Castle 1913: Meditations
1915: The Metamorphosis
1927: Amerika
1916: The Judgment: A Story
1919: In the Penal Colony
1919: A Country Doctor
1924: A Hunger Artist
A Hunger Artist
by
Franz Kafka
"A Hunger Artist" is a short story by Franz Kafka first published in Die neue Rundschau in
1922. The story was also included in the collection A Hunger Artist, the last book Kafka
prepared for publication, which was printed by Verlag Die Schmiede shortly after his death. "A
Hunger Artist" is the most common English translation. The title refers to the title character, an
unnamed "hunger artist" (or "starvation artist," depending on your translation) who entertains
crowds of people by sitting alone in a cage without eating for long periods of time.
Plot Analysis of A Hunger
Artist
Exposition
People from all over the world want
to watch the hunger artist.
Rising Action
The hunger artist becomes desperate to fast for
longer
People begin losing interest
Climax
The lose of interest in the hunger artist

forces him to join the circus, where he will
be allowed to fast for as long he’d like
Falling Action
The hunger artist is ridiculed
and ignored by the people until
he is soon forgotten about
completely
Resolution
The hunger artist is killed by his art.

Mood and Setting
Mood
Melancholy, foreboding, lack of understanding,
Tone
Disappointment and ironic
Style
simple and clear
Setting
Early twentieth century in unidentified locales in Europe
Characters
The Hunger Artist

The Impresario
The Overseer
The Hunger Artist
The miserable protagonist of the story. Dressed in black tights,
the hunger artist is emaciated. Everything about his demeanor
cries of desperation and tragedy. He sequesters himself in a
cage, preferring to sit on the straw-lined floor rather than on a
chair. Although he craves public attention and is delighted to
display himself to wide-eyed spectators, he is often frustrated
with the interactions he has with others. While in his cage, the
hunger artist withdraws into himself, seemingly in a trance. He
thinks of little more than the art of fasting and his desire to be
the greatest faster of all time.
The Impresario
The hunger artist’s manager. Until his partnership with the hunger artist ends,
the impresario is wholly dedicated to the hunger artist’s career and devotes all
his resources to his advancement. As a result of spending so much time with
the hunger artist, the impresario likely knows him better than anyone else. All
the same, they do not seem to be friends, given the pleasure that the impresario
takes in taunting the hunger artist during his performances to increase the
drama and excitement.
The Overseer
A circus manager who discovers the hunger artist dying in his cage. The
overseer hears the hunger artist’s final words, but he clearly does not care
whether he lives or dies. As soon as the hunger artist expires, the overseer
callously orders that his body be taken away and replaces him with a panther.
Literary Elements
Point of View
third person perspective.
Symbolism
Cage
Circus
Panther
Themes
•Pride
•Time
• Isolation
PRIDE
• The hunger artist thrives off of his pride in the same way that others
thrive off of food. He is the only one who knows that his fasting is not
a hoax and finds satisfaction in his accomplishments. He views each
day without food as an achievement and his visible ribs as honorable.
However the outside world views his art quite differently, and often
react negatively to the things that the hunger artist is proud of- like his
startlingly gaunt figure.
• The hunger artist's pride causes him to become isolated from society
because his views of his art cause him to be blind to the public's
opinion. While his pride did allow him to become a great faster, it
ultimately harmed him because it created a barrier between the artist
and his audience.
• TIME
A part of the hunger artist's struggle is due to time, and how it changes
the world around him. His job turns out to not be something he can rely
on forever, Fasting becomes outdated, and so does he, which he realizes
at the circus. Unfortunately, it is too late for him to restart his life. The
fact that time has taken so much from him increases his feelings of
worthlessness and insignificance.
• ISOLATION
The hunger artist's isolation is caused by how society does not
understand his art. He becomes frustrated by his lack of belonging in
society and only further isolates himself by not interacting with his
audience. His isolation represents the isolation of anyone who thinks in a
way different from what is accepted in society.
Review of Lecture
Introduction to Franz Kafka
Title significance of A Hunger Artist
Plot analysis of A Hunger Artist
Setting & character
Literary Elements and Themes

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Topic: Franz Kafka: A Hunger Artist (Plot analysis, characterization, themes, style)

Subject: Short Fictional Narratives

Novels Short Stories

1925: The Trial 1913: The Stoker: A Fragment

The lose of interest in the hunger artist

The hunger artist is killed by his art.

The Hunger Artist

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