Summary:
Within the short story, "A Hunger Artist", by Franz Kafka, the author proves and disproves a point best stated by Robin George Collinwood, that; "Perfect freedom is reserved for the man who lives by his own work and in that work, does what he wants to do."
No Chance Against Society
Throughout this world of unique individuals, the majority of human beings have generally conformed into different societal norms that follow one path and one dream without stopping to think of an alternative path. Complications step in front of individual prosperity and these obstacles spring from the pressures of the popular society. Within the short story, "A Hunger Artist", by Franz Kafka, the author proves and disproves a point best stated by Robin George Collinwood, that; "Perfect freedom is reserved for the man who lives by his own work and in that work, does what he wants to do." The protagonist, within this short story, freely chooses his career path as a hunger artist, but as the story continues, the audience begins to see that it is not as much an admired profession as it is a tool to gain fame and satisfaction through the act of suffering. Although Kafka's writing appears easy to understand, it takes a deeper discernment to understand his use of hidden metaphorical themes and symbols. Through his use of parallel connections, dubious metaphors, and symbolic relationships, Kafka is able to successfully portray the triumphant power society has over individual prosperity without complete compliance to popular expectations.
Throughout this short story, Kafka is able to effectively intertwine and detail the relation that the outward society has with the hunger artist. The hunger artist believes his profession to be an art and seeks constant validation, superiority, and attention. In the beginning, the audience is captivated by the hunger artist and his practices, however no one truly believes he is fasting all the time and they do not view fasting as an art. Because the artist is so dependent upon his audience, this difference of opinion between the two generates a feeling of suffrage upon the artist. In the artist's quest for superiority, he uses his suffering to produce a feeling more intense and emotional than his audience. Eventually, the audience loses interest in the hunger artist and is able to easily glimpse at the anguish and happily move past it. This combination of dependency, need for support, and feeling of superiority signifies the hunger artist's endless dissatisfaction with himself. The society subconsciously pushes the hunger artist into a vicious cycle of suffrage as he continues to do what he claims to love, ultimately resulting in societal dominance.
The hunger artist, at best, is in complete control over is pain and hunger as he exercises his free will to do what he chooses. Throughout the story, the hunger artist proves time and time again to be a living contradiction. At one point, the artist admits that fasting is easy, but at the end he confesses that he was simply never able to find any food he liked; "For he alone knew....how easy it was to fast," "But you shouldn't admire it...because I couldn't find the food I liked (Kafka)." The hunger artist is constantly alienated from the world and is never accepted by society. Metaphorically speaking, the act of fasting represents suffrage and an abused free will. Had the world been more compliant to this unique profession, the hunger artist would not have suffered and good could have sparked from all this. As the society moves in one direction, the one that chooses to take the path less traveled on suffers the ultimate consequences.
It is not until the panther appears in the end that the audience is able to compare and contrast the hunger artist verse the panther. The panther symbolizes a freedom that the hunger artist never experienced. The audience becomes hypnotized by this new wave of excitement and thrill that it seems the hunger artist never even existed. The panther, however, had one major difference from the hunger artist. This animal conforms to all societal expectations and does nothing abnormal, whereas the hunger artist wanted everything his way and would not accept any other alternatives which drove him to his death. The hunger artist's manger even lied to the public about the hunger artist's conditions to make him more appealing to society, once again conforming to societal demands. However, this greatly angered the hunger artist because he wanted to live true to his actions. Time and time again, the society beat down on the hunger artist's efforts to achieve his ultimate free will causing him to be completely defeated.
Ayn Rand, a famed, objectivist author was a strong believer in individual triumph before society obedience. She believed that individuals propel history, not societies. And as we see throughout this story, no history was propelled; better yet history and individual triumph was dominated by society and eventually defeated. The hunger artist's replacement, the panther, was none other than a soul that was willing to conform to the demands placed upon him. This story takes Ayn Rand's idea of independence and fits it to the practicalities of today's world, which is discerned by the renowned Euripides; "No man is wholly free. He is a slave to wealth, or to fortune, or the laws, or the people restrain him from acting according to his will alone." The hunger artist remained nameless throughout the story signifying inferiority. Kafka's purpose for this was to signify the impracticalities against fighting mainstream society for individual desires. Ultimately, the hunger artist is the true hero for standing up to what he believes in and his death comes right after the moment he gives in. Who is to say the panther will not end up just like the hunger artist?
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