The Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka

This story is clearly bemoaning the lack of respect faced by many forms of art in the fast changing world. The hunger artist was very sad and angry at the fact that people misunderstood his art. They often accuse him of cheating. Sometimes people who were suppose to post gaurd on him provide instances where he can eat without anyone looking, what they seemed unable to realize was that he was not trying to find ways to eat but he take pride in his abbilities and his stamina for staying hungry for so long. It was an art for him and he could not dare cheat his art form.
This is very common these days when many skilled artist feel there art is not taken seriously by the people and they feel neglected. the fast changing world is making many art forms obsolete and with it many artists starving for the praise they so much struggle for.

Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

This story is very symbolic. Everything that happens in the story with the protagonist Young Goodman Brown is real or a dream, we dont know. The journey through the jungle can be the journey through life how a person faces the temptations of life. The name of the wife "Faith" is also very important point. The relationship could be seen as a person's relationship with his faith while confronting all the problems in life. the story strongly depicts the tug of war between good and evil in every day life.
The use of religious symbols and names like Faith points towards the trouble Nathaniel Hawthorne had gone throughout his life. His great grandfather was one of the judges in Salem Witch Trials and he had difficult time dealing with the legacy of witch trials. This story can be a seen as an attempt to deal with those issues.