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What Is The Similarities Between The Bet And The Hunger Artist

Decent Essays

Some birds are too beautiful to be caged. It has such bright feathers and sweet songs that you feel guilty to imprison them (Stephen King, A Story from Different Seasons). Expectations imposed by the society seem to imprison such splendid creatures, crushing their dreams and hopes of achieving something they wish. People are withheld by the society and personal ideology. Social and gender norms confronts people to be normal, as seen in ‘Boys and Girls’ and ‘The Singing Lesson’. However, the society is not the only one to blame, personal mindset also imprisons us from within. We see physical (materialistic) and spiritual (non-materialistic) chains from ‘The Bet’ and ‘The Hunger Artist’. This essay will elaborate on the resemblances and distinctions of the 4 stories in terms of their approach.

Defining materialistic needs and recognition as success is a form of imprisonment. In ‘The Bet’, the lawyer accepted to be imprisoned for an exchange of two million bucks, costing his human contact. By utilizing objectivity, the characters are painted in a vivid picture, where readers are able to understand the thoughts and actions of the old banker. Furthermore, the story included third-person omniscient, where the lawyer’s thoughts confused the readers while piquing their …show more content…

No one understood his art, resulting in loneliness, therefore distancing himself from the audience. Similar to ‘The Bet’, this story utilizes third person omniscient, creating a sense of mystery towards the artist, allowing readers to ponder about his thoughts. Franz Kafka depicts the alienation of people who does not conform to the norms, showcasing the imprisonment of life. At the same time, it questions the readers if success should be measured by the amount of recognition gained. We see the artist trying to get people to understand his art but to no vain, causing him to spiral into

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