The World's Pickiest Eater

In the Starving Artist, a man is depicted who has devoted his entire life to learning the craft of fasting. It states in the story that he is capable of going up to forty days with no food, and that he cherishes it when people admire him for his accomplishments. He is described as extremely malnourished, although he never complains, or cries, but is instead very stoic and calm. When I was reading this story through the first time, I was impressed with the feeling the author used to describe the different stages of the Hunger artist’s life. There was a high note, where he was on top of the world, and many people had respect for his craft, even though there were quite a few who thought that it must be fake. Take that in contrast with the end of the book, where he sits in a cage at a circus-like event, where people pass by and offer mostly pity, with much less of the adoration that he used to enjoy. We think that this story is going to be one that maybe celebrates his accomplishments, then we think that it is actually about the Hunger artist’s downfall, as his popularity wanes. At the end of the story, however, the piece actually becomes quite satirical and funny in my opinion, when with his dying breath, the Hunger artist explains that the only reason he enjoyed fasting, was because he could never find a type of food that he actually liked. We have this amazing backstory explaining the life of this mysterious and obsessed man, wholly dedicated to his craft, only to find out at the end that all of the self-control and diligence we thought he had was only a product of how picky of an eater he was. Which basically makes the reader lose all respect they once had for him, as it seems less impressive when the only reason you don’t eat is because you don’t like the food.

A Fast Way to Die

Kafka's "A Hunger artist" was a very interesting read. It lead me think much about the art of performing and why people like musicians, athletes, and performers do the things they do.

The story itself was odd and at times rabid. The title first caught my attention, and when I realized that the story revolved around someone who had a talent for fasting, I wondered why on earth the story would be interesting. Who would want to see someone in a cage, doing nothing? However, the story revolves around the deep meaning of the actual hunger artist and why he did what he did.

I found it interesting to consider why the hunger artist simply performed all his life with the help (and sometimes, for the artist, too much help) of his parter. Here was his talent: not eating. Impressive? Sure, but it what does it do for society? The entertainment is boring and there seems to be no message in why he is doing it. We may wish to consider another man who fasted- Gandhi. He fasted (though not for 40 days) with a purpose. His fastings were a key drive to his movements and philosophy. The hunger artist fasted for entertainment.

When his "art" died out he felt he needed to finish what he had started. Instead of finding something else to do that might give his life a little more meaning, he joined a circus to finish his "career" in fasting. It was here that he died alone, under straw, and admitted to the last man he spoke with that he fasted because he couldn't find anything he liked to eat.

That final confession from him truly shoes the complexity of his character, He spent his who life seeking attention and affection from the crowd because he didn't like food. To me, this shows how, sometimes, people use the strangest ways to seek attention. Sure, he was good at what he did and it's not his fault he didn't like eating. However, he could have done 100 other things with his life for attention and affection. He chose, ultimately, to use his "talent", and from this choice, he died the strange man that had no true fans.

Fasting Forty Days and Forty Nights

In Kafka's short story "The Hunger Artist", is an interesting short story, which follows his style of writing strange, and somewhat disturbing short stories, like "The Metamorphosis".

When I first saw the title, I thought it was a bit strange, since I thought it would be more about an artist that was struggling to make ends meet, but then that would've been the hungry artist, and not the hunger artist.  After going through the story, I realized, it was an artist that was trying to use hunger itself as an art form, which is a strange idea, since hunger is usually not something that one appreciates, which can bring up the question, what is art?

While going through the story, I thought it was very peculiar that the man was able to fast for such a long time, considering the human body can only last a couple weeks without food, and merely only days without water, yet this man was able to last for months, maybe even years (since there was no count of the number of days he fasted at the end) without dying.  This makes the story a rather mundane fantasy, since the only incredible thing was how much a man could starve himself.  Even the extent of 40 days seems unbelievable, yet the character still wanted to continue, despite him appearing to be half-dead even at that marker of time.

With reference to the 40 days of fasting, which was set as the limit, I thought it was an interesting choice of number, since, assuming one has any knowledge of the Bible, that makes one think of the story when Jesus Christ fasted for forty days and forty nights, and was then tempted of the devil.  This might make one think that the protagonist is some sort of Messiah-like figure, but that turns out to not be the case, since all he does is fast for who knows how long before his death.

How Long Could You Go Without Eating?

Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” was an – interesting read. Early on, it mentions a clock being the only significant thing in the artist’s cage, causing me to wonder why the clock was so important. It isn’t until later that you realize that the artist can fast for weeks. The longer he can fast, the more impressive he is.

The hunger artist is an odd character; he does not want to eat. In fact, he even mentions that fasting is not the challenge that most people assume; it is easy to him. My first assumption was because he had not eaten for a long time and that the desire had started to fade along with his life. As I continued reading, I found that other spectators of the hunger artist had similar thoughts to my own. The artist denied that as the truth.

The artist, for some reason, felt like nobody appreciated what he did. I personally did not understand why anyone would find it a spectacle worth paying to see. The artist was able to go for forty days without eating and felt like he could go further, but nobody would let him. That is, until his profession was no longer engaging to the audience and he lay forgotten in a cage.

It was not until his dying breath, that we learned the reason the artist had no difficulty fasting and why he never wanted to break his fast. It turns out that the artist is one of the pickiest eaters in the world; he tells the man who came to his aid that he would have eaten if he had found something he enjoyed eating.

It appears that the antagonist is the artists partner. He is the man who refuses to let the artist go without food beyond forty days. He always makes him eat something after that time, preventing the artist from his desire to break his record and prove that he can go longer without.

All in all, I found this story to be different and a little disturbing.