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WORKSHOPS » FICTION » FRANZ KAFKA, "A HUNGER ARTIST" » RE-READING
Franz Kafka, "A Hunger Artist"
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Re-Reading Questions
Text on p. 274 of the full Ninth Edition and p. 242 of the shorter Ninth Edition.
Reading Questions
1. The title is "A" not "The Hunger Artist." What does the use of the indefinite article tell you?
2. Can you tell anything about the time and place in the story? Do you think a contemporary audience would show the same interest in a "hunger artist"?
3. What does the "hunger artist" do to amuse the audience while he fasts?
4. Why does the impresario limit the fast to forty days?
5. When the artist is replaced by a panther whose "joy of life streamed with such ardent passion from his throat that for the onlookers it was not easy to stand the shock of it." The public cannot take their eyes off the animal. Why do they prefer the panther to the hunger artist?
6. How easy is it to go hungry? How long do you think you could go without eating? How long could you go for $100,000? Is there a cause for which you would willingly starve? What historical instances can you think of when individuals or groups went hungry, either because they were forced or because they wanted to make a statement?
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