Hunger · Chapter
II explained
The narrator, starving and desperate, wanders through Christiania after spending his last shillings.
What happens
The narrator, starving and desperate, wanders through Christiania after spending his last shillings. He plays a cruel trick on a policeman with an empty paper cornet, contemplates suicide, attempts to pawn buttons and glasses, and encounters a sympathetic acquaintance who offers help.
Themes in this chapter
Hunger and Deprivation
The narrator's extreme hunger drives his actions, from the trick with the paper cornet to his failed attempt to pawn buttons.
Psychological Fragmentation
The narrator experiences hallucinations, feverish laughter, and suicidal thoughts, reflecting his deteriorating mental state.
Pride and Humiliation
The narrator's pride prevents him from begging for bread, yet he endures the humiliation of being laughed at by the pawnbroker.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Struggles with extreme hunger, fever, and despair; plays a trick on a policeman; contemplates suicide; attempts to pawn buttons and glasses.
- Hans Pauli
Mentioned as a possible acquaintance; the narrator considers visiting him but decides against it.
Key passages
“I was drunk with starvation; my hunger had made me tipsy.”
Starvation intoxicated me, making me feel giddy and reckless.
Highlights the narrator's altered state due to extreme hunger.
“I sat and looked at the white paper cornet, which seemed as if it might be bursting with shining silver pieces, and incited myself to believe that it really did contain something.”
I stared at the empty paper cone, pretending it was full of coins, and tried to convince myself it was real.
Illustrates the narrator's desperate fantasy and self-deception.
“I had sat in saddle, toiled day and night like a carrier's horse. I had read my eyes out of their sockets, had starved the brains out of my head, and what the devil had I gained by it?”
I had worked relentlessly, reading until my eyes ached and starving my mind, yet I had nothing to show for it.
Reflects the narrator's frustration with his futile artistic struggle.