This is to help the reader understand the setting, the theme and the character developments that happen through the story.
Short Essay
Sarah McNutt
Theme is the basis for a novel, it is essentially what the story is about, and can often influence the way an author changes the characters throughout a story. Theme can sometimes be dependent on the setting, such as the time it is taking place, where it is taking place and what major events are happening at this time. Setting does not always play an essential role though. This can be seen in ‘A Hunger Artist’, while the setting doesn’t play an important role, the themes and the characterization used in this story are intertwined.
The setting used for ‘A Hunger Artist” is a backdrop type setting. This means that it is a place with little to no actual characteristics marking it as a specific location. The only information the reader is given is that the hunger artist is travelling across Europe with the impresario and then later that he joins a circus. No details are shard about the name of the circus or the place in Europe where the circus is situated. This causes the setting to be unimportant in the story.
Through the course of the story, sees the hunger artist become more desperate to fast for longer. The closer he gets to death the more animal like the reader views him. This image is put into the reader’s head from the very beginning because the hunger artist is kept in a cage so that the world can view him, and so that they know he isn’t secretly eating. The cage gives the reader the impression of an animal at a zoo or circus. The hunger artist is dirty though, which disgusts the people, he does not get to clean himself the way a human should. He becomes more animal like as the story progresses and he has fasted for a long time, with the story stating, “to the general alarm began to shake the bars of his cage like a wild animal.” (Kafka 671). It is seen again when he joins the circus because he is situated between that animals and the people. The final time this is seen is when he isn’t given a human burial, but instead the type of burial the circus would give the other animals, dumped into a hole, straw and all. The hunger artist is replaced by a puma that the audience loves, making him seem of even lesser status than an animal.
The biggest change in the hunger artist’s personality is the desperation he has to fast longer. While he wants to fast for longer in the beginning, it soon becomes an obsession, to prove that he is the best hunger artist and that he can break all the records. This dream becomes a reality when he joins the circus because he is allowed to fast for as long as he would like. This desperation to be the best at his art is what eventually leads the hunger artist to his death.
One of the major themes present in this story is isolation and separation from the people. While the hunger artist is always kept in a cage, which is the beginning of his separation, he still finds a way to communicate with the people watching him. The narrator states, “He was ready to exchange jokes with them, to tell them stories out of his nomadic life.” (Kafka 669). But the more desperate the hunger artist becomes to fast, the less people are able to connect and understand him, the narrator states, “when they reached his cage he was at once deafened by the storm of shouting and abuse that arose.” (Kafka 672). The people watching the hunger artist don't understand his need to fast and find it impossible to relate. Their lack of understanding upsets him and leaves him isolated and alone, soon to be forgotten about, “the little notice board telling the number of days achieved, which at first was changed carefully everyday, had long stayed the same figure.” (Kafka 673). By the time the hunger artist dies he is alone and isolated from a world that once loved to watch his art.
Another major theme is the harm that pride can cause a person. The hunger artist takes pride in his work, it is what keeps him so strong and able to resist eating. The hunger artist’s pride in his work helps him to have such strong willpower. His pride in his work could also be seen as what drives him to desperation. The hunger artist wants to be the best at his art and he wants to fast for the longest. He believes that in order to do this he has to continue the fast past the forty days. This connects to the previously mentioned theme of isolation. The hunger artists pride causes him to become desperate, which ultimately leaves him isolated.
In “A Hunger Artist”, the setting of the story is not given much importance. The characterization and the themes of the story are interwoven though. The hunger artist’s desperation is necessary so that the story can show the negative effects of pride and how it can all lead to isolation.
The setting used for ‘A Hunger Artist” is a backdrop type setting. This means that it is a place with little to no actual characteristics marking it as a specific location. The only information the reader is given is that the hunger artist is travelling across Europe with the impresario and then later that he joins a circus. No details are shard about the name of the circus or the place in Europe where the circus is situated. This causes the setting to be unimportant in the story.
Through the course of the story, sees the hunger artist become more desperate to fast for longer. The closer he gets to death the more animal like the reader views him. This image is put into the reader’s head from the very beginning because the hunger artist is kept in a cage so that the world can view him, and so that they know he isn’t secretly eating. The cage gives the reader the impression of an animal at a zoo or circus. The hunger artist is dirty though, which disgusts the people, he does not get to clean himself the way a human should. He becomes more animal like as the story progresses and he has fasted for a long time, with the story stating, “to the general alarm began to shake the bars of his cage like a wild animal.” (Kafka 671). It is seen again when he joins the circus because he is situated between that animals and the people. The final time this is seen is when he isn’t given a human burial, but instead the type of burial the circus would give the other animals, dumped into a hole, straw and all. The hunger artist is replaced by a puma that the audience loves, making him seem of even lesser status than an animal.
The biggest change in the hunger artist’s personality is the desperation he has to fast longer. While he wants to fast for longer in the beginning, it soon becomes an obsession, to prove that he is the best hunger artist and that he can break all the records. This dream becomes a reality when he joins the circus because he is allowed to fast for as long as he would like. This desperation to be the best at his art is what eventually leads the hunger artist to his death.
One of the major themes present in this story is isolation and separation from the people. While the hunger artist is always kept in a cage, which is the beginning of his separation, he still finds a way to communicate with the people watching him. The narrator states, “He was ready to exchange jokes with them, to tell them stories out of his nomadic life.” (Kafka 669). But the more desperate the hunger artist becomes to fast, the less people are able to connect and understand him, the narrator states, “when they reached his cage he was at once deafened by the storm of shouting and abuse that arose.” (Kafka 672). The people watching the hunger artist don't understand his need to fast and find it impossible to relate. Their lack of understanding upsets him and leaves him isolated and alone, soon to be forgotten about, “the little notice board telling the number of days achieved, which at first was changed carefully everyday, had long stayed the same figure.” (Kafka 673). By the time the hunger artist dies he is alone and isolated from a world that once loved to watch his art.
Another major theme is the harm that pride can cause a person. The hunger artist takes pride in his work, it is what keeps him so strong and able to resist eating. The hunger artist’s pride in his work helps him to have such strong willpower. His pride in his work could also be seen as what drives him to desperation. The hunger artist wants to be the best at his art and he wants to fast for the longest. He believes that in order to do this he has to continue the fast past the forty days. This connects to the previously mentioned theme of isolation. The hunger artists pride causes him to become desperate, which ultimately leaves him isolated.
In “A Hunger Artist”, the setting of the story is not given much importance. The characterization and the themes of the story are interwoven though. The hunger artist’s desperation is necessary so that the story can show the negative effects of pride and how it can all lead to isolation.