Hunger for Self-Worth

   In Franz Kafka's "A Hunger Artist", the hunger artist is a man who fasts out of an internal need for self-worth, simultaneously pleasuring and revolting the masses who come to gawk at him. The hunger artist is a model of contrast; his entire existence is built around the conflict between the external satisfaction he so desperately craves and his futile attempts at achieving that satisfaction, which actually pushes him further from his goal. The hunger artist hopes that his self-denial will prove his worthiness as a human being to the people who come to stare at him, but in reality the more he fasts, the more they reject him. Even when he tries to demonstrate his honor in refusing to accept food, the people still treat him as though he is somehow cheating by sneaking food into the cage. Above all else, this irks the hunger artist. The only true emotion he ever shows is when it is suggested that the cause of his suffering is his fasting. To him, this is entirely backwards. His refusal to eat, in his mind, is the source  of his own value of self-worth; it is his craft, and without his job, he would provide no benefit to the world. The irony is that he doesn't provide value to the world anyways, and his "art" actually makes people degrade him even more. Eventually, the spectators would rather see animals instead of him, and only stop to look at him when "they could hardly avoid moving past the hunger artist and stopping there a moment." 

   Still, he craves their understanding, hoping that if they acknowledge his feats and the splendid nature of his artwork, it will somehow fill the void that is his self-worth as a human being. When he surpasses 40 days of fasting, even less people care. "He might fast as well as he could—and he did—but nothing could save him any more. People went straight past him." When he finally withers away, his final words, stating he could never find a food he liked, symbolize an important truth: despite his persistent search to find satisfaction and inner peace, he never found it because he was always searching for an external form of satisfaction, rather than finding it within. His artwork was a form of pleasure and suffering to him. The panther which takes his place in the cage after he dies further illustrates this point. It prowls around, full of vigor "almost to the point of bursting." Although the panther is placed in the cage by force, its joy in life is clearly evident. This directly contrasts the hunger artist, who lives in the cage by his own accord, yet every passing day the freedom and vigor slowly drains out of him. He can leave his artwork if he so chooses, but he cannot stop, his desire to please overwhelming all else, until finally it consumes him. The hunger artist is a man who cannot escape the torment of himself, and his desire to fast by proving his worth to others is what brings about his death.