A Hunger Artist Summary

The narrator remarks that in the last few decades, the interest in professional fasting has diminished. Hunger artists used to be quite popular, starving themselves inside a cage as entertainment. Many people in the town used to come see the artist, even selecting permanent watchers to make sure he doesn't eat anything. The watchers make the hunger artist miserable, as he doesn't like that they are suspicious of him. However, no one could truly watch him at all times, but the hunger artist took it as a personal matter of honor that he didn't eat. The artist has fasted up to forty days, but he is not permitted to go beyond that because the crowd loses interest at that point. Doctors check out the artist and announce the results of his fast. The artist doesn't want to stop fasting...