Symbolism Explored in "A Hunger Essay

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As he becomes frustrated by onlookers' questions, he shakes the bars of the cage like some wild animal. The artist's cage is literal and figurative in this case. He is confined to his life of suffering and his is a prisoner of it. His psychological cage is just like his physical one. He willingly accepts both. He was never appreciated and this led to even more dissatisfaction. The artist can find no peace within and no appreciated from without. People walked by him without glancing his way. Soon they forget about him and leave him for dead. The artist believes he cheated the world because he never achieved success but in actuality, it was the world that cheated him by treating him as nothing more than an exhibition on the way to the "excitements of the menagerie" (396). He likes the cage and the suffering it brings because he feels it is his destiny.

The panther is a significant symbol Kafka employs in the story. The panther symbolizes the implications of the artist's actions. The panther is opposite the artist in many ways. The artist, emaciated and nearing death, is a stark contrast to the panther's "noble body" (401). In addition, the panther represents a "joy of life" (401) the artist never knew. The panter ate food and seemed to carry with it a freedom the artist could only dream about.

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This is strange since it is in the same cage as the artist. Where there was once such unhappiness, there seems to be a certain amount of peace that the artist never knew. The artist is caged by the restraints he places on himself and the panther is free because it is not concerned with art, appreciation, or recognition. The panther seems to be more of a work of art by simply being alive.

"A Hunger Artist" tells the tale of a man willing to sacrifice nothing for his art or the appreciation of it. As a result, he dies a pathetic death because you cannot force the world to appreciate your art. It will enjoy it as it wishes on its own timetable and regardless of the struggle it took to produce, it will not shine before its time. Kafka's use of the cage and hunger illustrate the artist's determination; he believes he dies a noble death in the name of his art. The panther, brought in as a replacement, seems to garner more attention for far less work and struggle. The artist's hunger and art are wasted because the artist could not accept the fact that art, as wonderful as it is, cannot be forced upon the public.

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