The article about a man who puts himself up on display for hunger voluntarily is in direct contrast to the novel Hunger, where the protagonist suffers from hunger in an involuntary manner. The former sees his act as brave and an amazing feat of his strength and prowess and shows it off to an amazed audience who wonder at him in awe after they are satisfied that his feat is legitimate. On the other hand the latter, hides his starvation as a shameful act that his circumstances has made him fall from grace in society. The hunger artist who fasts for 40 days at a time has an achievement to be proud of, and feels depressed if this is taken away from him. What is fascinating for the people who flock to see him in droves. Why do they marvel at his emaciated face and body and wonder how long he will survive. I guess human nature means that we enjoy the macabre. That is why everyone slows down to look at a car crash. It was interesting when the hunger artist whose fan following began to dwindle was forced to be the side act in the circus where the main attraction were the animals. It was also ironic that once he died unnoticed his cage was given to a Panther who ate his food with gusto. As he died he whispered he starved himself as he never found anything he enjoyed eating. Perhaps exhibitionists are in fact desperately lonely people who crave attention to compensate something missing in their miserable lives. Since they do not enjoy life they lose their appetite and the bitterness in their lives infiltrates their food leaving a bitter after taste both literally and figuratively. However it is also common knowledge that depression leads many individuals to the reverse syndrome where they reach for food food comfort, companionship and validation of their existence. Does the pain the hunger artist feels obliterate and numb all his other senses so his emotional pain subsides? Certainly with the novel protagonist he went through various phases of depression, delirium and madness when eventually his body no longer craved for nourishment.He begins to go into his fantasy land as a natural survival instinct that allows the body to hold on to dear life for longer than we often think we are capable of, in a feAt of mind over matter.
I need to also point out the disease of anorexia nervosa where mostly young women starve themselves to be thin. Again our relationship with food whether it be positive or negative has a direct correlation with our psychological state of mind. Food is a pleasure most people thrive on and many live to eat as opposed to eat to live.
Hunger is something we all experience on a day to day basis but for well to do people this hunger is mostly based on not having the time to eat such as skipping lunch to catch up on work. Though psychologically that person knows that food is within their reach and will soon be available. Though medically the body is not so well aware and begins starvation mode and eventually will break down it's reserves. Often depriving oneself is beneficial as it helps to cleanse the body in a detoxification process. Further fasting is important in many religions as it reminds the person what it feels to have an empty belly, and in doing so reminds us of those less fortunate who may be sleeping hungry. So surely hunger should not be a feat to be marveled at and neither should it be a predicament that we need to be ashamed of. As human beings we should strive to be philanthropic and ensure that no one sleeps hungry and that all deaths from starvation cease to exist. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment