Point of view

"A Hunger Artist" is written from a thirdperson limited perspective, meaning that the narrator is an abstract voice, not a character in the story. But the story is told mostly from the perspective, or point-of-view, of the hunger artist. Only in the final paragraph, as the hunger artist is dying, does the narrational perspective broaden out.

Imagery and Symbolism

Hunger. The most prominent symbolic motif in "A Hunger Artist" is hunger. This "hunger" motif is characterized by the hunger artist's lifelong feelings of dissatisfaction. No matter how successful and famous he becomes, the hunger artist remains "unsatisfied" and "troubled in spirit." Hunger symbolises both a lust for life and a spiritual yearning. The Hunger Artist's dying admission is that, "I have to fast, I can't help it.... I couldn't find the food I liked. If I had found it, believe me, I should have made no...