high.
Ketone bodies supply most of brain’s energy.
Intestinal walls shrink.
Body dehydrates.
2–3 weeks
You are probably dead.
HUNGER ARTISTS: STARVATION ON PURPOSE
The ultimate gift is food. In Catching Fire , Peeta says that he and Katniss will give one month of their food winnings for the rest of their lives to each of District 11’s tribute families ( Catching Fire , 59). Nobody has ever won the Games and bestowed such a gift upon another district, and Peeta’s declaration shocks and thrills all of the repressed people who hear it.
Hunger is so horrible that in the first novel, Katniss and Gale agree that they’d rather get shot in the head than starve to death ( The Hunger Games , 17).
And yet, despite the real horrors of hunger, a lot of people do starve themselves on purpose. Some are entertainers and call themselves hunger artists. Others are anorexic, still others go on hunger strikes to prove their points. It is typically a person in the midst of plenty who opts to starve himself. It’s highly unlikely that we’d find a hunger artist, for example, anywhere in the districts of Panem. Though in the Capitol, of course, there are plenty of people with anorexia and bulimia.
First, let’s talk about hunger artists. These are people who starve themselves to entertain other people. In a cruel and twisted way, all of the starving people in the districts of Panem exist to entertain the people in the Capitol. The Hunger Games themselves are an entertainment platform. The starvation, suffering, mutilation, humiliation, torture, and death of children amuses the Capitol. Although they don’t choose to be hunger artists and it’s all against their will, people like Katniss are hunger artists.
The key difference between Katniss and other hunger artists, both fictional and real, is this one component: She is forced to entertain people with her hunger. But what about these other hunger artists?
In the late 1800s, Giovanni Succi performed as a hunger artist throughout Europe. He starved himself amidst cheers and adulation, and while not performing, often occupied a cell in a mental institution.
In 1922, Franz Kafka wrote his famous short story, “The Hunger Artist,” in which his main character is much like Giovanni Succi: He’s a professional faster who eats nothing for weeks at a time, then moves to the next town to repeat the starvation process. He’s entertainment! The people love to watch him starve! Yet as with all entertainers, eventually the hunger artist is no longer popular with the masses, who have moved to their fleeting next obsession. The hunger artist withers away and right before dying, he confesses that he just never found any food worth eating. It was easy for him to starve, he says.
As recently as 2003, the magician David Blaine starved himself at length to entertain people. He lasted much longer than any typical person, who after starving himself two or three weeks, would probably die.
Thousands of fans showed up to watch Blaine finish his forty-four-day fast. It was even on television. According to BBC News, “He will spend 44 days suspended beside the London river. During that time he will apparently go without food and will only have access to water fed through a tube. Sky One showed live coverage of Blaine’s entry into the box on Friday evening and will show highlights for the following 44 days, with Channel 4 showing the footage three days later.” 11 An accompanying BBC diagram shows the effects of potential starvation on Blaine, including “organ failure by 6 weeks.”
After emerging from the box, Blaine recuperated in a private hospital. According to CNN World, he “experienced an irregular heartbeat during his time in the box . . . caused by a lack of potassium and thinning of the heart’s walls, according to a statement on his Web site.” 12 He also experienced stomach cramps after emerging from the box, and he had trouble sleeping. Overall, he lost fifty-five
Ketone bodies supply most of brain’s energy.
Intestinal walls shrink.
Body dehydrates.
2–3 weeks
You are probably dead.
HUNGER ARTISTS: STARVATION ON PURPOSE
The ultimate gift is food. In Catching Fire , Peeta says that he and Katniss will give one month of their food winnings for the rest of their lives to each of District 11’s tribute families ( Catching Fire , 59). Nobody has ever won the Games and bestowed such a gift upon another district, and Peeta’s declaration shocks and thrills all of the repressed people who hear it.
Hunger is so horrible that in the first novel, Katniss and Gale agree that they’d rather get shot in the head than starve to death ( The Hunger Games , 17).
And yet, despite the real horrors of hunger, a lot of people do starve themselves on purpose. Some are entertainers and call themselves hunger artists. Others are anorexic, still others go on hunger strikes to prove their points. It is typically a person in the midst of plenty who opts to starve himself. It’s highly unlikely that we’d find a hunger artist, for example, anywhere in the districts of Panem. Though in the Capitol, of course, there are plenty of people with anorexia and bulimia.
First, let’s talk about hunger artists. These are people who starve themselves to entertain other people. In a cruel and twisted way, all of the starving people in the districts of Panem exist to entertain the people in the Capitol. The Hunger Games themselves are an entertainment platform. The starvation, suffering, mutilation, humiliation, torture, and death of children amuses the Capitol. Although they don’t choose to be hunger artists and it’s all against their will, people like Katniss are hunger artists.
The key difference between Katniss and other hunger artists, both fictional and real, is this one component: She is forced to entertain people with her hunger. But what about these other hunger artists?
In the late 1800s, Giovanni Succi performed as a hunger artist throughout Europe. He starved himself amidst cheers and adulation, and while not performing, often occupied a cell in a mental institution.
In 1922, Franz Kafka wrote his famous short story, “The Hunger Artist,” in which his main character is much like Giovanni Succi: He’s a professional faster who eats nothing for weeks at a time, then moves to the next town to repeat the starvation process. He’s entertainment! The people love to watch him starve! Yet as with all entertainers, eventually the hunger artist is no longer popular with the masses, who have moved to their fleeting next obsession. The hunger artist withers away and right before dying, he confesses that he just never found any food worth eating. It was easy for him to starve, he says.
As recently as 2003, the magician David Blaine starved himself at length to entertain people. He lasted much longer than any typical person, who after starving himself two or three weeks, would probably die.
Thousands of fans showed up to watch Blaine finish his forty-four-day fast. It was even on television. According to BBC News, “He will spend 44 days suspended beside the London river. During that time he will apparently go without food and will only have access to water fed through a tube. Sky One showed live coverage of Blaine’s entry into the box on Friday evening and will show highlights for the following 44 days, with Channel 4 showing the footage three days later.” 11 An accompanying BBC diagram shows the effects of potential starvation on Blaine, including “organ failure by 6 weeks.”
After emerging from the box, Blaine recuperated in a private hospital. According to CNN World, he “experienced an irregular heartbeat during his time in the box . . . caused by a lack of potassium and thinning of the heart’s walls, according to a statement on his Web site.” 12 He also experienced stomach cramps after emerging from the box, and he had trouble sleeping. Overall, he lost fifty-five
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