The cage supersedes these aspects because this cage brings him comfort in captivity and isolation, whereas normal people lose those qualities in confinement. .

             The cage also is a symbol for the plasticity of the hunger artist"s animal-like behavior. It is often referred to in the possessive, his cage, and the hunger artist"s cage. It is a fact that most animals in captivity, whether it is a panther in a zoo or just a domesticated dog, that when they have been confined to a certain area, they exhibit behavior that is possessive of that space. The artist sits " down among the straw on the ground, sometimes giving a courteous nod.drawing deep into himself, paying no attention to anyone or anything.but merely staring into vacancy with half shut eyes, now and then taking a sip from a tiny glass of water to moisten his lips." The author is trying very hard to show what an animal he is, with extreme detail, mimicking the way animals on display sit there while the children look on. He never leaves the cage on his own free will, "he was comfortable sitting in the straw" that"s why he resents the impresario for always ending his fast on the fortieth day. .

             We the readers see more of this animalism in the hunger artist when the protagonist fasts professionally for the circus. His cage, and it is referred to as that several times in the large and first paragraph on page 201, is placed outside near the animal cages, where he belongs. Now people will see him when they come to see the other animals. Later, Kafka says, "he had the animals to thank for the tropes of people that passed his cage." .

             The cage is also a symbol of stability throughout a trend. Not just in the trend of his profession, but in trends as an abstract. In the first paragraph, the elders of the children view him as "a joke that happened to be in fashion." The artist is like the Backstreet Boys of early twentieth century Kafka ideals.