In Franz Kafka's A Hunger Artist, it can be argued that the character of the Hunger Artist is an absurdist anti-hero parallel to the heroic figure of Jesus Christ in the Holy Bible. The Hunger Artist is the narrative of a "starving and dying art", and one of the most relative interpretations for the time can be attributed to religion. Although Kafka was born Jewish and later devoted himself to atheism, he had no difficulty alluding to things central to European society. That said, "A Hunger Artist" is a Christ-like figure, or a martyr, as Kafka believed, who would absurdly turn to religion during the modernist era when there was a decline in interest in religion. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The story opens with "Over the past decade, there has been a decline in interest in hunger artists," which perhaps could be a reference to the rise of atheism in the 1920s, supported by the atheism of Kafka. First, let's define what it means to be a hunger artist. A starvation artist in this story is "an artist who masochistically starves himself for the pleasure of others as an art form", but could be extended metaphorically to mean "a starving artist of a dying art". In any case, "starving or pleasing others as an art and suffering for it" or "doing whatever you want" is all about the conundrum of the modernist era where people don't seem to care if you don't keep up with the times. Skepticism and uncertainty. in The Hunger Artist can also be compared to Christianity. People doubted the Hunger Artist's fast just as people doubted the words of Jesus Christ. Those who truly believe should believe in the number of days the Hunger Artist fasted even though it is physically impossible for one to fast for that long. There is also the question of the reliability of the narrator, as we question the word of the Bible. Is the Bible really the Word of God? And did this narrator really know the Hunger Artist, follow him, and know whether he ate or not? Is he too proud to say anything? The Hunger Artist's fasting period, forty days, alludes to Christ. However, the Hunger Artist chooses to go beyond the maximum fasting period and fast much longer, making him a "Super-Christ" figure. Ironically, after he surpasses Christ, people lose interest in him because no one can surpass Christ. Both Christ and the Hunger Artist were martyr figures. Both characters starved for many days. Both characters died mercilessly and painfully. While Christ was being murdered, the Hunger Artist essentially committed suicide. However, he was dying for people like Christ. He was sacrificing himself. Christ sacrificed himself for the sake of God, while the Hunger Artist did so for an “art,” the only thing he knew, which is Christ-like. Some biblical allusions in The Hunger Artist include the two women and the watchers representing "God" and "the wilderness". The Hunger Artist was tempted to eat food from the watchers and women, but he never broke down. It maintained its resilience and remained intact. The Hunger Artist's cage can be compared to Christ on the cross as a state of captivity, shame, lack of freedom, although the obvious contrast is that the cross was much more significant and attributed to death and holiness while the cage returns to animalism and barbarism. Animals are important to the Hunger Artist and represent "science" and "forces of nature". When the Hunger Artist is brought to the circus, he is placed near the animal cages and does not receive.