The Artist's Pain Exposed in Kafka's A Hunger ArtistIn "A Hunger Artist", Kafka comments on the life of the modern artist through the life of a hunger artist. Kafka comments that the modern artist is always dissatisfied with his own art. The modern artist is also trapped in a harsh and capricious world, in which he struggles to maintain his audience by pushing himself to the extreme, but is deceived because he does not receive his recognition. Finally, in "A Hunger Artist" Kafka refers to the modern artist's struggle between the need for fame and the need for isolation. As a modern artist, Kafka experienced the qualities that characterize the modern artist, and his experiences greatly influenced his work, especially "A Hunger Artist." The modern artist, as seen with the Hunger Artist, will always have dissatisfaction with his art. The hunger artist was dissatisfied with his work because he was dissatisfied with himself. He was dissatisfied because fasting was easy for him. Although he had revealed his secret to the world, the world did not understand it and some even had the "imprudence" to call him a fraud. The faster was also dissatisfied because he wanted to fast for more than forty days, but the impresario refused. The critic Frederick Karl observes that the hunger artist can find satisfaction only when he achieves purification as he approaches the subtle border where life and death touch.i[i] Kafka, a modern artist, was dissatisfied with his works . He attempted to achieve purification and perfection through a rigorous diet and lifestyle, but he failed to make his writings perfect and requested that his works be burned after his death.ii[ii]According to Kafka,... ... middle of the paper ......position in society. The modern artist is an outsider, or rather, a joke that "happened to be in fashion." The artist is condemned to rejection and isolation by a harsh and capricious world. Endnotes Karl, Frederick. Franz Kafka: representative man. New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation, 1991.ii Updike, John. Preface to Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories. New York: Schoken Books, 1971.iii Winkler, ROC. Literary criticism of the twentieth century vol. 2. New York: Gale Research, 1981iv Karl, Frederick. Franz Kafka: representative man. New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation, 1991.v Karl, Frederick. Franz Kafka: representative man. New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation, 1991.vi Karl, Frederick. Franz Kafka: representative man. New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation, 1991.