Paradox and Alienation in Kafka’s short story—A Hunger Artist

黃雅芬　熊美玲

【Abstract】A Hunger Artist， one of Franz Kafkas favorite works， arouses critics great attention.Paradox permeates the entire story and is vividly displayed in it.Alienation is the major theme of the story.On the other hand， the short story traces out a tragedy of the hunger artists struggle， which is also an actual portraiture of authors life.

【Key words】A Hunger Artist； paradox； alienation； Kafka

ⅠIntroduction

Franz Kafka， an influential German-language novelist， is regarded as one of the best writers of the 20th century.A Hunger Artist， one of his excellent short stories， is extremely treasured by Kafka.The story is about a man with remarkable talent.He can starve himself for as much as forty days at a time.However， the hunger artist is still unsatisfied with his performance and frustrated by both his manager and his spectators， who never truly appreciate his talent.The hunger artist struggles internally with his dissatisfaction with himself and his feelings of alienation from the world outside the cage in which he fasts.He thinks he doesnt attain his performing extremity， while audiences are convinced that he cheats.As the years go by， his performance goes out of vogue， and audiences show the waning interests in it.So the hunger artist has to resign himself to a circus.There he hopes to perform truly prodigious feats of fasting.Unfortunately， spectators prefer to see the animals rather than appreciate his fasting performance.Eventually， the hunger artist is completely ignored.One day an overseer and the attendants find the hunger artist near dead and bury him with the straw of his cage.Then a panther replaces the hunger artist.Ironically， spectators crowd about the panthers cage， feed the food he likes and do not want to move away.Some critics think that A Hunger Artist is an allegory of the misunderstood artist， whose artistic excellence is rejected or ignored by the public.Such interpretation is undoubtedly linked with a reading of the story as autobiography.According to this view， the story written near the end of Kafkas life links the hunger artist with the author as an alienated artist who is dying.As far as artistic techniques are concerned， paradox permeates the entire story.On the other hand， the theme of alienation is repeatedly emphasized.So the paper will illustrate the paradox in the story and clarify the theme.

ⅡThe brief analysis of paradox

Paradox is a philosophical terminology shown in a logical way.The critic Abrams thought that “paradox is self-contradictory or preposterous， but it also contains real meaning of the statement （Han Xiaoya， 2002）”.In the literary creation， paradox is often used by some writers as the mode of thinking and rhetoric.For Kafka， paradox is not only a philosophical concept， but also an aesthetic and artistic style.The hunger artist， he himself is the existence of paradox.The art which he professionalizes is fasting， so if he wants to reach the pinnacle of the art， he should suffer hunger endlessly.However， the process of hunger is actually the process of life towards death.Undoubtedly， his artistic peak indicates that his life is gradually ebbing away.Such paradox between the physical and the mental consists in the life of almost every real artist， so to a certain degree， the hunger artist is representative of all the artists.While the society is growing more and more fickle and commercialized， the real artists are challenged physically and mentally.The hunger artist， who knows exactly that seeking peoples understanding seems in vain， is still so obstinate to gain others understanding， because the existence of his art is based on those who do not grasp the true meaning of art.Life is a net which entangles us completely， and nobody can escape.Although some artists are incompatible with the society， they cant evade numerous social restrictions.The hunger artist undoubtedly knows that he is regarded as a ridiculous joke or a conversation piece by people and as a tool for making money by the impresario， but he himself still proves the immortality of his art which is also the integral part of social commerce.On one hand artists want to escape from society， the art nevertheless need to be recognized.Whats more， artists should be secured by the most basic material wealth so that they can engage in the art of the spiritual level.From this point of view， material will never be separated from spirit and emphasis on either of them will result in the death of the art， so whether the hunger artist representative of human spirit or the panther symbolic of human material will finally be forsaken by the audience.However， it is the inseparable relation between spirit and material that leads to artists hard living in the society where the craving for material things seems never satisfied.The impresario representative of businessmen only makes use of art to accumulate material wealth， and the audiences just follow the fashion， all of which determine the difficulty in pursuing the pure immortal art （Yao Di， 2011）.While the art which the hunger artist sacrifices his life to obtain is used to trade in the capitalist market， and the unfair exchange only bring despair to the hunger artist.Kafka clearly displays in the story， “since it was not the hunger artist who was cheating， he was working honestly， but the world who was cheating him of his reward （R.V.Cassill， 1981）”.Material needs force the hunger artist to conduct the unfair transaction.So the ubiquity of paradox in our daily life is fully revealed in the hunger artist.

ⅢThe analysis of alienation

From the above analysis， paradox clearly displayed in A Hunger Artist is absolutely enveloped in the circumstance of capitalist alienated society.Such alienation gives prominence to the sharp paradox.To start with， Kafka designs a dramatic scene， “on fine days the cage was set out in the open air， and then it was the childrens special treat to see the hunger artist； for their elders he was often just a joke that happened to be in fashion， but the children stood openmouthed， holding each others hands for greater security， marveling at him as he sat there pallid in black tights， with his ribs sticking out so prominently （R.V.Cassill， 1981）”.According to the description， Kafka divides the audiences into two parts， adults and children.The motive of adults to watch the fast show is to follow the fashion， which means they dont regard the hunger artist as their own kind but as a commodity for entertainment.They appreciate the painful process of his fast， releasing their sufferings and hardships in the daily life to obtain the mental pleasure.In the modern capitalist society where material civilization develops rapidly， human nature disintegrates unprecedentedly， and sincerity， conscience as well as sense of justice are replaced by indifference， numbness and inertia； interpersonal relationships are transformed into the relation between things and things， between use and being used， between need and being needed.It is not hard to understand that adults take special interested in violating the pure nature.They place the cage in the open air for the sake of children， which can be interpreted as the first lesson about the alienation of humanity imposed forcibly on children （Meng Zhihui， 2003）.Children representative of innocence， purity and kind-heartedness instinctively feel terrified at the sight of the hunger artist and naturally take effective reactions， holding each others hands for greater security， so as to protect themselves.Obviously， the original pure humanity is alienated.Whats more， according to the story， “Besides casual onlookers there were also relays of permanent watchers selected by the public， usually butchers， strangely enough， and it was their task to watch the hunger artist day and night （R.V.Cassill， 1981）”.From this point of view， the hunger artist is thoroughly alienated into a commodity.On the other hand， the hunger artist as an individual with subjective consciousness is a fighter pursuing the freedom of human spirit in the alienated society.“In his dimming eyes remained the firm though no longer proud persuasion that he was continuing to fast （R.V.Cassill， 1981）” proclaims that the hunger artist despises and spurns the perverted values in the alienated society and has unremitting pursuit of freedom of spiritual life as well as ideal personality.He is a spiritual explorer shouldering the task of exploring peoples spirit world and symbolizes the unyielding soul who incessantly fights and struggles in order to achieve self-fulfillment.His thought-provoking death seems to be an allegory signifying the difficulty in realizing ideal personality and hard journey of pursuing spiritual freedom.

ⅣConclusion

In A Hunger Artist， Kafka shows his own spiritual pursuit through shaping the image of the hunger artist as a spiritual explorer and martyr.Like the hunger artist， Kafka is also the fighter， explorer and martyr in the alienated society.Different from the means of the hunger artist， writing employed by Kafka is the specific means to reject the alienated society.He expresses his unique thinking about life， world and himself by means of writing （Wen Hua， 2000）.His persistence in pursuing writing at its best can be interpreted as Kafkas adherence to his belief which he is proud of， and he doesnt identify himself with the alienated society.At the same time， he also starves for the acknowledgement from those who he despises， which is the paradox upsetting Kafka.

Reference：

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