In his short story "A Hunger Artist", Franz Kafka uses the extreme example of the fictional hunger artist to discuss the dichotomy between art and life. Usually, an artist uses his life to create his art. Therefore, an artist alienated from the world will use his art to represent alienation, which ironically could bring him closer to the world. Kafka did this by writing about his feelings of isolation and frustrations with society in stories like "The Metamorphosis" and his novel The Trial. By writing these stories, Kafka expresses some of his disappointment with the world and leaves his audience to analyze them as such. In this cycle, the artist channels his problems into art to manage his difficulties, and the audience accepts the art, providing the artist with social acceptance and relief from loneliness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Kafka sheds light on this healthy cycle by describing artistic production in "A Hunger Artist," in which the artist's artistic creation does not lead to a positive cycle, because his suffering begets suffering. His desire to be an artist is explained through "his inner dissatisfaction" (246) with the world. The hunger artist does not starve because he believes that starvation is a respected art form, but "because I couldn't find the food I liked" (255). Instead of channeling his problems into artistic creation, the hunger artist uses himself as a canvas and personifies his dissatisfaction, which leads to a lack of separation between artist and art. Without such separation, the hunger artist depends entirely on audience appreciation for the piece to work. Indeed, "nothing bothered the artist more than" the night watchmen who paid him little attention, giving him plenty of time to swallow his food, and "much more to his taste were the watchmen who sat near the bars...which focused him in the full light of the pocket flashlight" (245). The artist turns to his audience for approval and would do “anything to keep [these observers] awake and prove…that he was fasting as none of them could fast” (245). He must prove himself to the public by showing his talent and earning their approval, and only then, when he is "honored by the world" (249), can the hunger artist consider himself accomplished. However, the more the artist fasts, the more the audience disbelieves that he actually does so, which causes him further suffering and leads to a smaller, negative cycle within the already harmful larger cycle of the starvation artist's production. Although the hunger artist receives mostly negative feedback away from the audience, he manages to live only because the audience pays attention to him. This point is most evident when "interest in professional fasting...markedly diminished" (243), which ultimately leads to the death of the hunger artist, as no one takes an active interest in his life, allowing him to die of hunger. The hunger artist is no longer closer to the world through his creation process, but discovers that he can only survive by creating art and showing it to the public. Instead of using art as an expression of his life, the hunger artist uses his art to live. Therefore, he has no life outside of his art. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Through The Hunger Artist, Kafka defines the dangers of depending on art for life. The hunger artist expresses his dissatisfaction with the world by using himself and not an external canvas for.