Naveen Rao Mr.

Hackney Rhetoric 101 29 October 2013 TITLE Differences in social classes and economic status are a prominent theme in the story A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka, especially between the artist and the spectators. The artist, or the working class citizen, works and starves for money from dealing with the economic hardships of society. Written in Germany, this story exemplifies the decade in which it was written, 1922, because the 20s was the first time a working class was really seen struggling to stay financially stable all over the world, especially in Berlin. This change created huge income and culture gaps between the rich and the poor. Because the artist is the only character intently described, it is simple to say that the story is geared more towards the artist and his personal struggles with social class. The latter, however, is part of a higher social status. These upper class citizens look down on the lower class to the point where it seems pompous and egotistical. By having the spectators (or the upper class) look down on the artist (or working class), Kafka uses metaphors to reveal how differences in economic status and social class in Germany provoked ignorance and caused financial hardships: an eminent problem during the Roaring Twenties. A Hunger Artist, a story originating in Germany, was written in the 1920s. During this time period, Germany was undergoing a period of sustained economic prosperity after World War I. Economically, this era marked the diffusion of accelerated consumer demand and unprecedented industrial growth post wartime. Because of this, Germany fell into a deep recession and started seeing an influx of low-waged, working class citizens. The struggles seen with these citizens precisely match the struggles seen with the hunger artist. For example, in the second line of the story, author Franz Kafka writes, [Professional fasting] used to pay very well to stage such great performances under ones own management, but today that is quite impossible (918). In other words, there was a time period where one could successfully work and receive beneficial wages in order to be financially stable, but during the time Kafka wrote the story, that same dream of earning and providing was proving futile. To Kafka, the hunger artist symbolizes every working class citizen that is struggling to stay afloat financially. For the hunger artist, this new decade is a different world, proving that times were less strenuous and demanding before the Golden Age (918). Along with the historical background that helped define the theme, Franz Kafka also uses metaphors to determine how economic status provoked ignorance in the story. During this time of inflation, though, classes were divided into a strong upper class and a struggling working class. The working class combined with the impoverished class because the economic strain was becoming too much to handle. Because of this, the upper-class looked down on the poor citizens of Germany. On page 922, the hunger artist joins a large circusrecruiting men. At this point in time, the circus was considered a luxury that only the rich, or upper-class citizens,

had the opportunity to dabble in. So, the spectators at the circus symbolize the upper-class, as the isolated artist in his cage near the animal cages symbolize how the workers felt (922). In other words, hard workers like these felt trapped in financial strain and were looked down upon and ignored by the upper-class citizens. By once being a respected and well deserved class, the working class now saw a shift in mindsets as the upper-class showed ignorance towards their situation. Even at the end, the once beloved hunger artist was ignored by the arrogant society when many more days went byand that too came to an end (923). At this point, the working class in poverty is completely shunned by everyone else and is treated as ineffectual or useless despite the fact that the working class used to do a lot for the economy. Because the upper-class acted out ignorantly and arrogantly towards the lower classes, a lot of them in fear of breaking through the social barriers. It was because of this that the poor population stayed poor and the rich stayed rich. According to Kafka, the hunger artist did not dare lodge a complaint with the management (923). With this, the hunger artist never dared cross the boundary that he was bound; metaphorically, this symbolizes how social lines were never crossed. Even Kafka admitted that not every upper-class citizen was ignorant, however. On page 921, Kafka writes, And if some good-natured person, feeling sorry for [the hunger artist], tried to console him (921). In other words, there were some good-natured people that broke the social contract between the upper-class and the lower-class. But for the most part, the hunger artist had to go through much torment just for the state in which he lived in. In fact, the hunger artist described starvation, or poverty, as a condition hardly to be understood by well-fed people (921). In this case, the well-fed people symbolize the upper-class. The upper-class would never understand the concept of poverty, thus marking them ignorant. In A Hunger Artist, Franz Kafka is a product of the historical background he came from. The story was written in Germany in 1922 in the midst of the Golden Age, or the Roaring Twenties. Berlin was undergoing economic turmoil and inflation, which caused the workingclass and the poor to combine into one class. Wages were suddenly decreased due to post-war debt. Kafka, affected by his historical background, uses metaphors and symbolism to describe how social classes and economic strain cause a disconnect between the two classes.