One way to view this story is as an examination of the social, cultural, and personal contexts of art and the artist. How does it explore/comment on the relationship between art, artist, and audience; the artist's relationship to his own art, including its formal aspects and the medium itself (what is the Hunger Artist's medium? you may consider this as a kind of performance art); the relationship of the artist to society and to the everyday life?
The story questions the goals, purposes, and motivations of art, as well as socio-economic factors that may influence art and the artist, beyond the desires and visions of the artist him/herself in dialogue with her/his chosen medium. How does the story explore the way audience considerations can effect, even partially shape, the artistic production? How seeing art as popular "entertainment" imposes certain limitations on art and artist? From this point of view, what is it about this artist's art that may require the imposition of certain "formal" limitations, and how does the artist feel about this?
One way to see the conflict of the story, then, is between the Hunger Artist's desires and visions for his art, his responsibility to this own vision, and the socio-economic factors of its promotion and reception.
Remember: the essence of all stories is CONFLICT: i.e., there is a reason we refer to "protagonist" and "antagonist"; "hero/"antihero" ("antihero" not to be confused with "antagonist"--i.e, the "hero" of a story is often actually an "antihero," in the traditional sense-- check the terms on Wikipedia), etc. Try to get a handle on what the focal character's central conflicts are--with whom? internal (psychological, within a character), external (with forces impinging on a character from the outside), or a combination (in most stories we are reading, the latter), and the theme will follow...
The story questions the goals, purposes, and motivations of art, as well as socio-economic factors that may influence art and the artist, beyond the desires and visions of the artist him/herself in dialogue with her/his chosen medium. How does the story explore the way audience considerations can effect, even partially shape, the artistic production? How seeing art as popular "entertainment" imposes certain limitations on art and artist? From this point of view, what is it about this artist's art that may require the imposition of certain "formal" limitations, and how does the artist feel about this?
One way to see the conflict of the story, then, is between the Hunger Artist's desires and visions for his art, his responsibility to this own vision, and the socio-economic factors of its promotion and reception.
Remember: the essence of all stories is CONFLICT: i.e., there is a reason we refer to "protagonist" and "antagonist"; "hero/"antihero" ("antihero" not to be confused with "antagonist"--i.e, the "hero" of a story is often actually an "antihero," in the traditional sense-- check the terms on Wikipedia), etc. Try to get a handle on what the focal character's central conflicts are--with whom? internal (psychological, within a character), external (with forces impinging on a character from the outside), or a combination (in most stories we are reading, the latter), and the theme will follow...
