Sawyer Batten GER 209 Dr.

Tatum 11 December 2013 Alienation and the Truth in The Hunger Artist Kafkas, The Hunger Artist is often associated with alienation and art, and rightfully so. This analysis will focus less on reiterating those aspects and more about defining those terms as well as their contexts. Alienation is a term that is relative and broad; the context of art is one that varies from a tangible sheet of paper to an abstract and massive concept about humans and truth. It is true that, often, these two terms appear together, and, that generally-true assumptions about their relationship are common knowledge. Often, analyses of The Hunger Artist merely describe Kafkas confirmation of those assumptions: the suffering artist, the introverted artist, the unaccepted artist and the buffoon public. Yes, we see those things in this work. But there is much more to be seen. As stated before, this work is often used to confirm existing assumptions about artists; we should instead be searching for an original assumption of Kafkasless Kafka contributes to the conversation about artists, more Here is what, Kafka, the artist, is saying. He confirms what we presume about artists, yes, but more, he tells us how artists are alienated, and why. And he defines the context of art that he is referring to. And absolutely isnt making general statements about artists and their feelings; he is commenting on truth, as an entity, and its relationship with the people who can see itand thenthe seers relationship with their peers who cannot see it. Did I lose you? Analysis of alienation in this work is most easily obtained from the image of the cage and the protagonists introversion. A structural analysis of this text finds those aspects to be supplemental, not foundational, resources. First, let us establish the definition of alienation; it is

Sawyer Batten GER 209 Dr. Tatum 11 December 2013 not isolation, which is voluntary. Introversion is voluntary. Alienation is unchangeable; it is two unalike things rejecting one another. It is the existence of a quality that cannot be understood or accepted by someone else, which results in a separation. With this more stringent definition of alienation, can we then use merely introversion and a cage to exemplify it? Hardly. Kafka deftly and deliberately uses device to define true, not connotative, alienation, and to emphasize it throughout the work. A close reading reveals that Kafka intended for us to view the hunger artist as an entirely singular human being, comparable or comprehensible to none other. The following paragraph will answer the question, Singular in what way; what makes him different?, but for now, let us appreciate the ways in which Kafka demonstrates his protagonists singularity: on page 304, Kafka chooses the verbiage retreats entirely to himself, on page 305 No one could tell only the hunger artist himself, on page 307, only he could be the spectator completely satisfied with his hungering and he alone knew, and no insider realized, on page 308, becoming the greatest hunger artist of all timewhich, no doubt, he already was, on page 309, no one, only the hunger artist himselfalways only he himself and honored by the worldbut how could they comfort him in any way?, on page 314, Try explaining the art of hungering to someone! If a person doesnt feel it, then you cant make him understand,, and on page 315, Believe meI wouldve stuffed myself like you and everyone else. Here we see, in very specific language, that it is a priority of Kafkas to separate the hunger artist from the rest of the world. These keys he leaves us not only exacerbate the fact that the hunger artist is singular, they also constantly remind us that there is something, more than a component of the hunger artists personality or preference, that keeps him and the world apart. So, what is this alienating element? I submit that it is the pursuit and recognition of truth.

Sawyer Batten GER 209 Dr. Tatum 11 December 2013 I submit that, in this work, art symbolizes this truth or the pursuit. To provide a more eloquent expression of that concept than I ever could, I present a quote from Pablo Picasso: We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. To be an artist is to be a truth-seer, and then, in whatever way and to any degree, be a truth-articulator. This explains the artists frustration with the world, and the worlds disinterest in the artist; Kafka is demonstrating that the public or world, in this work, have lost view of and interest in the truth. I submit under this lens the first words of the text: In the past few decades, the interest in hunger artists has greatly declinedThose were different times. Back then, the whole town would focus on the hunger artistwould spend days on end sitting in from of the small barred cage (303). Playing on the axiom that from the lips of babes comes the truth, Kafka deliberately singles out children as the only appreciators of his art: Now, it was especially children to whom the hunger artist was shown (303), and again at the end of the work, The children, inadequately prepared by school and by life, were completely out at sea (what did hungering mean to them?); yet the glow of their inquiring eyes hinted that new and more merciful times were imminent (313). It describes the adults as merely being intent on visiting the animals (312). There seems to be a symbolism here as well; the hunger artist is replaced by a panther, described as being a real hit with the crowd. It represents the flashy superficialgiving the people what they want; the panther is also used as the facilitator of one of the works most profound statements: Nor did he even seem to miss his freedom (315). The public is happy to be foolish. Aside from these proofs, repeated verbiage and imagery suggest that Kafka is furthering his comment on the absence of truth from the world by making all things therein unsubstantial

Sawyer Batten GER 209 Dr. Tatum 11 December 2013 and illusory for the hunger artist: on page 308, His feet scraped along the ground as if it were not the real groundthey were still hunting for the real ground, page 309, in apparent glory, and on page 315, I couldnt find any food that I liked. Also, truth itself is referred to without symbolism, subtly, in the following passages: on page 314, For it was not the hunger artist who was cheating: he labored honestly, but the world was cheating, and on page 310, This familiar yet always nerve-wracking perversion of the truth was too much for the hunger artist. In the same way that Kafka very deliberately established that the hunger artist was the only man of his kind on earth, an alienated alien, he too does much crafting to link the artist with the truth. In analysis dissimilar to my own, by Brenda Machosky, poses a question, a minor aside in her analysis, that overwhelmed me, as I find it is perhaps one akin to the one Kafka had in mind when writing this piece: The hunger artist does not pity himself. In fact, he is most content when he is finally allowed to fast without endis willing to fast in reality in order to feast in spirit. The current crisis in the humanities centers on this point. At what point is one no longer willing to fast in order to feast? (289). This interpretation of The Hunger Artist finds that the work is most useful when applied to the relationship between truth/the real and humanity, more so than for commentary by an insular artist, about being an insular artist; the hunger artist doesnt feel isolated. Isolation is optional and often encountered along with feelings of loss or regret over the separation. Kafka actively demonstrates that his protagonist is alienatedan alien, not by choice, but because of some native quality about himself that no other man has or can understand. The hunger artist never was, and never wanted to be a part of the group. By setting this up, Kafka has proposed the question, what is this native quality, incomprehensible to the rest of the world? and thereby

Sawyer Batten GER 209 Dr. Tatum 11 December 2013 deliberately given himself an avenue with which to introduce truth; had the protagonist not been an alien, then the device would have been ineffective. We see truth, on straw in a cage, which was once enchanting to the public, abandoned, recognizable now only to children, die unnoticed and get replaced by a beast which didnt even seem to miss his freedom or know that he was caged. The publics attachment to this new beast is Kafkas comment that it is them. And thus we see the fruition of my afore-mentioned and bumbling claim: Kafka absolutely isnt making general statements about artists and their feelings; he is commenting on truth, as an entity, and its relationship with the people who can see itand thenthe seers relationship with their peers who cannot.

Sawyer Batten GER 209 Dr. Tatum 11 December 2013 Works Cited Kafka, Franz, and Joachim Neugroschel. "The Hunger Artist." The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories: With Two New Stories. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 2000. Print. Machosky, Brenda. "Fasting At The Feast Of Literature." Comparative Literature Studies 42.2 (2005): 288-305. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.