SOURCE: "Franz Kafka: Ein Hungerkünstler," in Representative Short Story Cycles of the Twentieth Century: Studies in a Literary Genre, Mouton, 1971, pp. 46-105.

In the following excerpt, Ingram examines the theme of anxiety in "A Hunger Artist. "

Situations which excite and heighten anxiety abound in "A Hunger Artist": the fasting showman is forcibly isolated (in a cage) from the community of man. He is questing toward a goal which he is not allowed to reach. Each step toward that goal leads him closer and closer to death. The shift of interest in fasting threatens the economic security of the Impresario and the stability of the Lebensweise of the showman. His audience does not understand the hunger artist. Many of them suspect him of cheating. They lock him in a cage, exhibit him, and limit his freedom.

Felix Weltsch wrote that "A Hunger Artist" actually includes four stories in...