Punishment by Rabindranath Tagore A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka - Research Paper Example

'Punishment' by Rabindranath Tagore 'A Hunger Artist' by Franz Kafka In this paper, I intend to compare and contrast 'Punishment' by Rabindranath Tagore and 'A Hunger Artist' by Franz Kafka with respect to the theme, plot and setting in terms of the unpleasantness of having to live with miseries in life and not having the power to improve the current condition in life. Both of these stories reflect the sadness and helplessness of people belonging to different walks of life. These people are not impacted by natural disasters but have spiritual or physical injury inflicted upon by their care takers. Each story is written about a different culture but shares the same idea. Tagore wrote 'Punishment' to highlight the plight of women in Indian culture. The story transforms to such an extent that the woman chooses to die rather than live with the misery of being oppressed daily by the hands on a male dominated society. Kafka wrote the fiction 'A Hunger Artist' out of the need to point out worker safety, for which he worked in his later years as well. The hunger artist had no other option to live his life than performing the art he knew to get the attention of people. Unfortunately the art no longer charmed people and his efforts went unnoticed later on. The theme of 'Punishment' is developed the moment Chidam names his wife as the murderer of his brothers' wife Radha. The unconscious choice of saving his brother from the death penalty depicts how low women are valued in the Indian society. Chidam thinks that by doing so he may save his brother and might be able to file a plea for his wife. Late on in the story, his wife is found guilty and he could not save her. The priority of choosing to save a man and taking women for granted without regard to the consequence of the action described how life is in a male dominated society. Chandara does not say yes but prefers to remain silent when Chidam orders her to take the blame on herself (Tagore and Radice, 95). Chandara knows the actual events that took place and saw how she was being made the scapegoat for Dukhirams' actions. The theme gets strong as the story progresses to show how easy it was a choice to oppress women without regard to their feelings. The plot of the story is made pressing when the landlord pays a visit and Chidam has to come up with an explanation. It grasps the readers to guess how Chidam will explain the murder. The murder is no longer made a mystery. The reader is left to wish secretly that somehow Chandara might find an escape. The way the plot revolves around Chandara being convincing in murdering Radha, it leaves the reader with an understanding that Chandara herself wants the blame on herself. The actual reason as to why she wishes to take the blame is hidden till the end. The end of the story is quite shocking to know that the woman chose to die rather than hope for a way out and spend the rest of her life with her husband. One more aspect is reflected in the story that triggers such an end. The oppression of women is painfully shown when Dukhiram kills Radha over an argument. This informs the reader of the value of life of a woman in an Indian society. Regardless of the fact that the argument is right or wrong, a dire action is taken and responsibility of the actions is not taken by the murderer. Chandara belonged to the same society and preferred to die rather than go back into a society where her life every day is miserable anyway. This leaves the reader heartbroken to imagine anyone thinking to prefer death over life just because they do not get the respect and attention that they deserve in life. The characters developed by Tagore are very mature in terms of their representation. The events that occur in the story and the way the characters respond to the plot are as expected by the writer once the theme is exposed. The story completes itself by the message Chandara has for her husband on her death bed. The theme goes smoothly in a single direction in the entire narrative. The storyline tries to console the user by symbolizing freedom for death penalty for Chandara. Chandara sees the death penalty as a freedom from the life she was living or she believed she might have to live. It seems a sadistic approach towards indicating freedom as well. The lack of choice for the woman in a male dominated society led her to the death penalty. A hunger artist has a slow theme and develops the story line monotonously. The story goes on the same pattern till the end. The theme revolves around the sad fact of human efforts being undervalued. The hunger artist gaining fame in the beginning depicts how new things attract people. It shows how it makes people amused and curious at the same time to see someone just like them performing something extra ordinary. On the other hand it also shows how the hunger artist has to accomplish something to earn a living for himself. The way he answered people shows his kindness towards his spectators and his way of being grateful to them for taking interest in him (Franz, 199). The plot starts to develop strongly when people used to come to the hunger artist out of curiosity alone to uncover the fact that he is not fasting. Such people bring an element of mistrust in the story. They are bent upon locating even a single mistake made by the hunger artist so they can share with everyone else that they know his little secret and that he is an ordinary person duping common public. The singing factor in the storyline highlights the misery of the hunger artist to have to justify his position in his profession (Richard, 198). The hunger artist wishes to span his fasting more than the forty days time limit set by his supervisor. This depicts the effort the hunger artist secretly wishes to satisfy his crowd and to test himself further for their satisfaction. The characters in this story are dim and not actively expressed. The supervisor and the spectators are the only other two roles that are discussed in this story. The supervisor being insensitive in portraying the attitude of the hunger artist to the people expresses a contradiction in words and beliefs bluntly. The society is shown to be oblivious of the interests on the hunger artist. They demand spectacles to feast their eyes and astound their wits. The change in people’s preferences adds to the misery of the hunger artist and the character is forced to come out of his comfort zone to try at some other place in life. Another reality revelation strikes the reader when Kafka mentions the fact that the hunger artist was modest in expecting his new position in the circus. He didn't expect much and he didn't get much. This point brings to notice how honest the hunger artist was with himself for maintaining his level of expectation. The fact that his misery grew when he was placed in the circus is reflected by the description of how he was overlooked by passer bys as if he was looked upon as something in the way. The hunger artist was unable to change his fate and unconsciously looked for freedom from his misery. The fact that people could not acknowledge his art left him hopeless and hurt. He finally got a chance to fulfill his secret wish. He started fasting indefinitely . The reward of his new challenges seemed to be unkind remarks from the few spectators who did take interest in him. At this moment the hunger artist realized that his art will not be entertained anymore as people no longer cared about it. Kafka concludes the story by symbolizing freedom for the hunger artist from all his miseries when he dies. He converses with his supervisor before dying in which he tries to explain his negation for food not to support his art but because he could no help it. The replacement of the hunger artist with the panther once again revives the idea that people needed change to make the art attractive. They loved the panther doing its tricks and forgot all about the prior occupant of the cage. Both fictions are a blend miserable events that leave the leading characters no choice but to gain freedom in the form of death. Both reflect the way human beings are fed up from their lives and feel hopeless. The end of the hunger artist takes the reader one step further in showing how least concerned the world is about the people who gain 'freedom' in life. The lack of showing even a weak sign of protest from Chandara makes 'Punishment' a brutally scripted piece twisted towards hopelessness. References: Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories, trans. Donna Freed. New York: Barnes & Noble 1996. ISBN 1-56619-969-7. Richard A. Posner. The Ethical Significance of Free Choice: A Reply to Professor West. Harvard Law Review Vol. 99, 1986 Tagore R., Radice W. Selected Short Stories by Rabindranath Tagore and William Radice 1995. Penguin Books Read More