Finding Meaning In Kafka's The Hunger Artist

"The Hunger Artist," which is Kafka's masterpiece, suggests that humans can never satisfy their desires. "The Hunger Artist," which is a story about a man who professionally fasts in a cage, is limited only 40 days of fasting by his manager, even though the artist believes he can last much longer. The Hunger Artist still remains unsatisfied even after his very pleased crowd leaves. The artist eventually hires himself out to the circus. However, the crowd only watches him because he is near the animals, not because they are interested in him. Kafka, the author of "The Hunger Artist," demonstrates many different variations of conflict with the audience, irony, and symbolism.
Undoubtedly, Kafka explores the hunger artist's complicated relationship with his audience, and in this relationship we can better see how each side appreciates the art. The audience that is viewing the artist feeds upon the belief that the artist is cheating. They continually view the artist only wishing to find him cheating. They even become confident that he is cheating, yet no one is ever able to find any form of proof. If the suspicions were to be confirmed, the audience would not be satisfied, and, in fact, feel cheated and frustrated. The man only wishes to be honored by the public and he asks for forgiveness and explains that
people should not admire his fasting; he simply could never find any food he liked, but if he had, he would have eaten it.
Kafka draws a parallel between the hunger artist and the ultimate figure of suffering, Jesus Christ.
The hunger artist's fasts are limited to forty days; Christ was "led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights." Kafka also presents numerous images of the artist appearing as Christ such as when some women try to help him out of the cage, he outstretches his arms, appearing as if he is on the cross. Christ's fast, which he most likely did to allude to the forty years of wandering for the Jews, has now become Lent. However, Christ suffered for humanity; the hunger artist suffers because of
humanity.
Of course, the artist has to have someone watch over him at all times. Ironically, his overseer just so happens to be a butcher. This is ironic because a man who has cooked and prepared food all his life, is watching over an artist who has no desire to eat any food he does not like. It's also ironic that when the hunger artist dies he is replaced by a panther. The panther is put in the cage as an alternate for the diseased artist after he dies. The panther is the inversion of the hunger artist. Kafka ensures we recognize it as a symbol of appetite and vitality by drawing attention to the freedom lurking in its "jaws" and the "joy of life" streaming from its "throat." The panther overcomes the imprisonment of its cage and still feels free. The hunger artist, on the other hand, though he thought himself free at times through his self-denial, was always a captive of his own suffering and starvation. The irony in this story is best demonstrated at the end when he takes his final breath and explains his real reason for being a hunger artist wasn't to be the best hunger artist ever but rather, "Because I couldn't find the food that I liked. If I had found it, believe me, I should have made no fuss and stuffed myself like you or anyone else."
Unquestionably, symbolism is used in just about every story. The bowl in "Janus" serves as both the primary image and symbol of the story. Indeed, the story seems to be more about the bowl than about the main character; Beattie takes great care to present the bowl in a variety of settings and light. Such careful attention to the detail of the bowl suggests that Beattie places the weight of the story on this image. In the story "Janus," she sets