In the short story, "A Hunger Artist", The hunger artist is an interesting character its like Pinocchio, when the puppet master kidnapped him and made him sing, " I have no strings to pull me" for money. A slave of entertainment for money. Like Pinocchio , The hunger artist is definitely the protagonist of the story. Unfortunately the author's pessimistic spiritual outlook bleeds through his expression of the character being a depressed protagonist but a protagonist nonetheless. The symbolic meaning or the allegory of Jesus Christ is a consist theme through this story support the protagonist the hunger artist was. The right hand man unfortunately wasn't the same person as the overseer and allowed him to die publicly such as Christ our lord. He lives in a straw lined floored cage, so lonely plus other features symbolizing the a human. Gandhi was a charismatic authoritative human leader that stopped wars and brought peace with his ability to fast. His suffering showed the attribute of a human, when eventually he clasped and the time has come to eat again like every human needs to do. I think the most human symbolism was when he eventually died like every human is destine to do, if he wasn't human he would have expressed a form of immortality to fast for ever but he was definitely human in the end.
In the short story,"A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings",The old man with wings reminds me of the child actors that get screwed by their parents like Cory Phelps, he was a well known child actor that made good money but by the time he turned eighteen he had no money left over for him to attained because his parents took it all and transferred it to their accounts. My point is his parents were like the couple exploiting him with a lot better fancier chicken coop, like the old man with enormous wings. The old seemed like the simple outcast slightly wounded and in need for shelter. He appeared in the couple's back yard and they had no shame using him to get rich. The fact that the man with wings was suffering showed that he may be human or symbolized a human. Also the way he was scratched up, wounded, and near towards death when the couple found him in need for help in their yard, he definitely resemble a human. His resembles a human as he shows his human side when he is in need of self care relying on his right hand man The Impresario to make sure he lives, stops his fasting before he dies, nurturing him to health and practically force-feeding him.
In conclusion both,"A Hunger Artist" and "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" represented a common theme of humanity in quite a few attributes. The desperate need for attention, medical, and general care (like feeding, shelter, sleeping, and nurturance). Another thing they both have in common is the suffering they go through and the desperate need for acceptance. in ,”A Hunger Artist” the artist himself replaced his appetite of food with attention as we watch him suffer through desperation for the craving of the crowd as he dies publicly; he dies as the crowd dies off; at the moments when he is done fasting for his spectators he relies on his right hand man The Impresario to take care for him.The crowd by accepting the hunger artist kept him alive at peace accepting his amazing ability to fast/starve without dying, just as the old man from ,”A very Old Man With Enormous Wings,” survived by the acceptance of the couple to spare her his life and take him in to nurture, heal him back to safety and good standing, at the old man’s most vulnerable moment he had to rely on the couple that took him in allowing him to live in his chicken coop and be visited by spectators. |
Re: The Protagnists and The Outcast
by Yajaira Lopez - Saturday, November 24, 2012, 09:16 PM
Alissa, I found it interesting your comparsion between the old man in "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" to child actors. That did not crossed my mind when I first read it but I'm glad you mentioned it. Just like parents take advantage of their children who are in the entertainment business, the couple in the story take advantage of him. It is sad that they exploit him in that way. Good analysis!
Re: The Protagonists and The Outcast
by Amy Linsamouth - Saturday, November 24, 2012, 10:30 PM
I enjoyed reading your analysis. The couple that left the angel in the chicken coop appeared to treat him adequately, although they exploited him. They didn't kill him as suggested by the "wise woman." It was sad way for the old man to survive.
Re: The Protagonists and The Outcast
by Allen Ghazarian - Saturday, November 24, 2012, 11:04 PM
Alissa,
I liked your comparisons of the characters to today's problems, its something I also felt were significant. I agree with you, the themes of both stories present a theme of humanity in distinctive ways.
Re: The Protagonists and The Outcast
by Tara Hall - Sunday, November 25, 2012, 12:22 AM
I like your comparison to both stories being about humanity. I think both these stories have a real moral to them. They are also quite sad.
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