A Hunger Artist: Synopsis

A few decades ago, a hunger artist was very popular, he was a professional faster. He was with
his impresario (manager), spending his days starving himself in a cage while spectators come to
watch him.
He’s very serious in what he’s doing. He views himself as an artist rather than a mere circus
freak. At one time, the whole town was totally interested and amazed with the hunger artist.
Numerous people would always buy tickets to see him. The only thing he had with him in his
cage was a clock.
People, at the same time thought that it was just an act, that he could be sneaking food when no
one is watching. As part of the act, several people stand as guards at his cage every night to
ensure that he is not 'cheating', which angers him. Nothing is more important to the artist than
maintaining the integrity of his fasting.
The impresario has placed limits on the man's fasting, determining that no fast should last longer
than 40 days, a span based primarily on spectator interest. On the fortieth day, people surrounded
the cage to watch two doctors and two young ladies help the man out of the cage to a table where
a meal is waiting. The hunger artist is reluctant to break his fast, even when encouraged by the
impresario and the crowd. He fights to extend his fast even further.
Suddenly, the hunger artist is no longer popular. He and his manager tour Europe, looking for an
audience, but they just can't find anybody to watch. The hunger artist fired his manager and
signed on as an act in a large circus.
At the circus, the hunger artist is just a sideshow. His cage is placed in between the main circus
and the animal menagerie, which sounds rather embarrassing. Circus-goers stream past his cage
on the way to the menagerie of exotic animals, and they barely notice his existence.
Overlooked and forgotten, the hunger artist continues to starve.
No one stops to watch the hunger artist at all. In a final blow, the circus management stops
updating the board that records the number of days the man has been fasting. Although the artist
finally exceeds his fasting limits, no one is there to appreciate his accomplishments, and even he
himself loses track of how many days he has fasted.
The hunger artist becomes so small and weak that his cage appears empty except for a pile of
straw. One day, an overseer actually notices the hunger artist's cage. When he pokes at the straw,
he realizes that the starving man is still there and alive, but barely. Deliriously, the hunger artist
tells him that he's never deserved anyone's admiration, that he couldn't help but fast. When asked
why, the artist delivers his last words, “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.”
After uttering his last words, the hunger artist dies. The circus replaces him with a young
panther, whose wild strength and virility sharply contrasts with the strange, meek man who had
previously occupied the cage.