Allegorical or symbolic meaning of the poem

Allegory is the general term used to describe stories in which the

meaning is not so much in the literal elements of the story, but is
to be understood on a symbolic level, hidden or buried beneath
the surface meaning. The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines
allegory as expressing “spiritual, psychological, or abstract
intellectual concepts in terms of material and concrete objects.”
In allegories, the details of the story “are found to correspond to
the details of some other system or relations.”
The Encyclopaedia Britannica states that Kafka’s stories
represent “the most original use of allegory in the 20th
Century.” Kafka’s use of allegory is particularly enigmatic as his
stories are “not susceptible of any single or precise
interpretation.” “A Hunger Artist,” with it’s absurd premise that
fasting is in fact an “art,” which for the hunger artist is central to
all of life’s dilemmas, invites the reader to search for a greater
meaning than simply the internal thoughts of a hunger artist. The
central symbol of “hunger,” for instance, suggests themes of
spiritual, social, psychological and existential yearnings.
Parable. “A Hunger Artist” can more specifically be described
as a type of allegory called a “parable.” Kafka’s use of parable
has been described in the Encyclopaedia Britannica as “one of
the most enigmatic in modern literature.” While this story
clearly invites us to search for a deeper or more abstract
meaning, it leaves us with no sense of certainty about what that
meaning might be.
The religious imagery and references in “A Hunger Artist” make
the story an allegory for the modern world’s rejection of faith.
An allegory is a story with a literal, surface meaning that
corresponds to a secondary, symbolic meaning. In “A Hunger
Artist,” the hunger artist’s life is parallel to Jesus Christ’s, and
the hunger artist’s tragic end suggests that Kafka had a
pessimistic outlook on the world’s spiritual crisis. The hunger
artist’s simple black attire is priestly, marking him as a holy
man, as Christ was. Like Christ, he travels from town to town
and performs miracles in front of spectators. Both the hunger
artist and Christ live ascetically, renouncing the material and
physical worlds that they believe stand in the way of spiritual
enlightenment. The hunger artist and Christ are most similar in
that after expending themselves in so-called service to others,
they undergo a public display of death.

The twist in Kafka’s religious allegory is that the hunger artist’s

spectators are indifferent to his suffering. This indifference
suggests that faith and spirituality have no place in the modern
world. Kafka seems to suggest that the hunger artist’s
popularity, and, by extension, Christ’s, is just a trend. Indeed,
the hunger artist’s popularity disappears in his own lifetime.
Even when the hunger artist is famous and revered, the
townspeople suspect trickery—no one has faith. His forty-day
fasts, which mirror Christ’s forty-day period in the desert during
which he subjects himself to Satan’s temptations, are greeted
with cynicism and apathy. The spectators’ apathy culminates in
the hunger artist’s final performance in the circus—no one pays
him any attention. The fact that no one bothers to keep track of
the days during the hunger artist’s last and greatest effort
underlines Kafka’s message that the hunger artist, and thus
Christ, do not truly die for others’ sins. Ultimately, their
martyrdom is false because the principles to which they devote
themselves are quickly forgotten by the people left behind.