Luis Fajardo

Midterm Essay, ENG2001 O525

Oct 26, 2020

Cruelty and Compassion

Cruelty is defined as the pleasure of causing pain which is what gothic literature is all about. In the stories “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Marquez and “A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka are very similar in terms of getting treated very poorly, and being socially distanced from society but they also have a difference in which one get compassion towards the end of the story. I will also go over the use of paradox in these stories and the change in the focal point of the narration.

“A very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is about an old man who has wings, is kept in a cage to be profited off by Pelayo and Elisenda. “A Hunger Artist” is about an artist that is mistreated by Impresario and joins the circus and is forgotten about and later dies from fasting longer than necessary.

The Two character that I will be comparing are the old man and the hunger artist who both are not given names to by their author. Both hunger artist and the old man are cruel entertainment for the people of the villages because in the “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” the old man is kept in a cage where People from all over come to see the old man and Elisenda and Pelayo charge 5 cent fee. In the “Hunger Artist” the artist is fasting in a cage where people from all over the world would come and see him. The hunger artist and the old man were both experienced by cruelty from the people that they were entertaining. In the “hunger artist” the cruelty to the hunger artist was that the butchers that would have to watch him over night would turn their back on him so that he would steal a bite to eat which annoyed the artist because it made it unpleasant for him. A quote from “ A Hunger Artist” that describes the annoyance the artist was feeling “often groups of night watchers who were very lax in carrying out their duties and deliberately huddled together in a retired corner to play cards with great absorption, obviously intending to give the hunger artist the chance of a little refreshment” (Kafka 2) he had so much pride in his work that he didn’t want people thinking he was faking his fast so he decided to sing so that the butchers would know he wasn’t eating and breaking his fast. The old man also faced cruelty from the crowd when they started to poke him, tried to get him to eat, burned hi side, and threw stones at him. A quote from “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” that showed the cruelty “the cripples pulled out feathers to touch their defective parts with, and even the most merciful threw stones at him, trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing”(Marquez 2). The old man would just sit there doing nothing all day so the people would attempt to hurt him in-order to get him to do something.

A contrast between the two characters is the compassion they received from the people that looked after them. In the “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” the old man received compassion from Pelayo and Elisenda when the winter came and the chicken hen was destroyed Pelayo let the old man live in their shed and would bring him a blanket to keep him warm. A quote from “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” that shows Elisenda relieved that the old man was finally able to go back to where he came from. Although she was relieved that the old man was leaving because of how much the man annoyed her, they still showed compassion by letting him stay with them until he was ready to go even though they weren’t profiting from him anymore “Elisenda let out a sigh of relief, for herself and for him, when she watched him pass over the last houses, holding himself up in some way with the risky flapping of a senile vulture”(Marquez 4). In “A Hunger Artist” the artist did not get any compassion from Impresario when he stopped the 40-day fasting. Impresario would first let a doctor in the cage to determine the artist condition and then Impresario would announce it to the audience with a megaphone. Two women are chosen from audience to help the artist from the cage and then is forced fed in front of the audience. Another lack of compassion that the hunger artist received was from the circus he joined after leaving Impresario. The circuit forgot about the hunger artist and was only noticed when the circus overseer looks at his cage and notices he is near death and after he dies quickly replaced by a young panther. The lack of compassion he received from the circus caused his death because no would go over to his cage to check on him because he was forgotten about.

The focal point of the narration alters reader sympathy in “A Hunger Artist” throughout the story because we feel bad for the artist in terms of lack of social connection he received from the audience. The artist would voluntarily enter a cage to fast for 40 days so that he can get try to impress the audience which shows the lack of social communication he has. A quote that proves that we wanted approval from the audience ““I always wanted you to admire my fasting” (Kafka 4) is what was said by the artist. The neglection he received from the circus also shows how socially distance he was from society which might have played a role in his death in which he wanted to fast longer than 40 days to break his record so that people would be impressed by him.

The focal point of the narration alters reader sympathy in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” in terms of socially distance. The old man is kept in a cage although people from all over come a see him they did so for their own needs. People harassed/harmed the old man to try to get his attention which he did not give them and I believe that he didn’t know how to speak to the people and that is why he didn’t say anything throughout the story. Since the angel could not speak, he might have felt distanced from people because they did not understand what he was. This made me sympathize for the old man because we can put ourselves in his situation and feel how awful that would be.

Paradox is a contradicting statement. In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” the paradox is used in the third page “Elisenda shouted that it was awful living in that hell full of angels” (Marquez 3) Elisenda say this because she’s feels like she’s living a life as a nightmare while the old man lives with them and because the old man seems to be in so many places at the same time in their house. They treated the old man as a creature that came from hell when he is an angel. Pelayo and Elisenda instead of praising the old man for being an angel they commit sins by locking him in a cage and profiting from him. In “A hunger Artist” paradox is used when the artist seems happier inside the cage rather than outside. I say this because when he was in the cage he was doing what he loves and that was fasting to please other with entertainment but whenever he was outside the cage he was being forced fed by Impresario and being humiliated in front of the crowd.

Inconclusion the old man and the hunger artist are very similar very similar and different in their own respective ways. Both the old man and the hunger artist were faced with cruelty from the people that were supposed to look after them and they also faced cruelty from the audience that they were entertaining. Paradox is used in both stories to contradict a statement. They both had a focal point to show us how socially distance they felt from society so sympathize for both the characters. The old man never spoke in the story therefore we assume he doesn’t understand their language and the hunger artist is neglected and tries to receive attention by breaking his record number of days fasting.