Knut Hamsun Is The Protagonist!

The peculiar protagonist of Hunger can know show its origins. After reading ‘Knut Hamsun’s Christian Perversions,’ I can know comprehend how Knut Hamsun was able to portray such a realistic and sentimental character, he was basing it on himself. This also gives you a more profound appreciation for the book; knowing that someone has actually felt the protagonist’s pain and misfortune you realize the poverty that is present in the world. The correlation between the author and the protagonist are so great that upon looking back at the book you feel as though you could’ve named the protagonist Knut Hamsun. As Asim Lal said in his blog, “…the protagonist might as well be named Knut Hamsun! The things that make Knut Hamsun himself are as crazy as those that make the protagonist himself.” (http://asimlikesenglish.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-finally-know-what-to-name-protagonist.html)

The protagonist and the author have gone through extreme poverty and misfortunes when it comes to the writing, and that is one what shapes on the big ideas of the book. Throughout the novel the protagonist chooses continuously lies about his situations and state of being. Even though he may be starving his pride or ego for that matter prevent him from telling people the truth; he illustrates his life in a much better light than it actually is. He chose not to take food when they were giving it to the homeless even though he was in dire need of it, he also decided to lie to the police when he went to jail. One may ponder upon the possibility that this all has to do with ego, more specifically an ego that was created by his ability to write. The Protagonist knows that he has the ability to produce a masterpiece and he is conscious of the fact that if he is in the right ‘situation’ then words just come to him. I suppose that he is ashamed of his situation simply because he knows he has the potential to change it. As I talk about this, it only makes sense that this could be true for Knut Hamsun as well. Upon doing some research I came across one of his biographies which stated, “From early childhood he was a shoemaker's apprentice, but was also a road worker, stonemason, junior-level teacher, and so on. He spent some years in America, travelling and working as a tram driver.” (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1920/hamsun-bio.html) This shows that Knut Hamsun was struggling to make a life for himself, yet he deemed it necessary to keep on writing because he was aware of his potential.

            I’m glad I got to read Knut Hamsun’s Christian Perversions as it made it easier for me to understand how Hamsun was able to write such an enticing novel. Perhaps Hamsun had the same difficulty as the protagonist in finding a paper that would give him a reasonable amount of money, but he knew that some aspects of his life were worth writing about. It’s quite sensational to realize that this book is a true story; when I first read I though it was sad, but now that I know its origins it’s devastating to think that somebody lived like the protagonist.