Food for the Soul

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Beauty is relative. It is always a deciding factor on which eye you are seeing it through. And like beauty, an art or a craft which possesses it passes through the judgment of all eyes of society whether he likes it or not.

Among the short stories we have taken up in class, it was Franz Kafka’s A Hunger Artist that made me realize that I am pondering on lots of things which was unusual. It was meaty. Underlay its lengthy paragraphs was a deeper issue of critiquing or assessing an artist and his craft. And with the existentialist, Franz Kafka, I totally agree with his interpretation of everything about the artist and the craft. And this is because, if I were situated in his place, I would also see things that way.

Take the hunger artist’s fasting which was limited by the impresario or the manager for until forty days only. But because he was so passionate to it, he still wants to continue his craft even after that 40 days. So true for if it is a craft, an artist would not limit himself in doing it. He loves it and so, he will continue doing it as long as he likes and this without anyone reprimanding him to stop or continue.

Then, he was put in that cage in the zoo, the next thing he was about to face was the live audience that is going to watch him. Dealing with their full interest at first, after a while, he also had to face the lost of their desire to view him. Experiencing this, instead of stopping what he most wanted to do, it just made him more and more willing to continue to reach out to the public and have his craft appreciated and understood. Entering the battlefield of art, an artist should always be ready of anything. He must know the fact that he cannot please everyone. He knows that he belongs to a society that will scrutinize his art, and that somehow he has to conform to them. To conform which is not an easy thing to do for an artist means to offer them the things they want to see, view and witness.

And lastly which was the rudest was when he was moved to another place to stay in. Still in a cage but now, it is beside a menagerie. It's just so desperate on the part of the hunger artist to continue his craft without people minding it. But he still managed to continue because of his great love for his craft. Seeing those people approach towards him gives him a sense of excitement and hope that those people coming might understand his craft. But consciously, he also knew that this sea of people coming is merely passers-by. And so, he had himself prepared that they were not his audience but they are of those to the menagerie. To continue still even without the least sincere blessing from the public was the bravest thing he did. It was quite a disappointment but probably, it is never an end to an artist. Here, if no public wants to view or buy the work, then the art would be for full self-expression. The kind where he just have to do what he desires to convey. And that’s it.

Kafka had me mesmerize by his way of things in that part where an overseer had come to question the hunger artist on why he had been doing these somehow silly things. Then, he answered modestly, "..because I couldn't find the food I liked. If I had found it, believe me, I should have made no fuss and stuffed myself like you or anyone else." Upon reading the artist's answer, I was stunned and got my brain cells working. It made me realize that after all, it wasn't his craft. That it was just coincidence and that the fasting which was believed as his craft was, all the while, an excuse of not finding something. But knowing it was Kafka's, you’ll come to think that the food he liked wasn't literally a food. The food he was dying to find was the understanding of the public, his audience, that with it he would satisfy himself as well as his craft which will be worthwhile now. If this happens, at last, the public would now see the beauty of the craft and the artist would now get the food that he wants. And in this way, it goes similar with beauty, a food for the soul for everybody that could witness it.