What theme connects In the Penal Colony and A Hunger Artist?

The theme that connects In the Penal Colony and A Hunger Artist is the ambiguity regarding the value of a task and the horror of one's absolute, fanatical devotion to it.1

In In the Penal Colony, this is illustrated by an officer who demonstrates his commitment to a brutal execution apparatus by ultimately submitting himself to its torturous mechanisms. Similarly, A Hunger Artist explores this preoccupation through the protagonist's extreme and self-destructive dedication to the act of fasting. Both works reflect Franz Kafka’s recurring interest in characters who are driven by a singular, often inscrutable purpose, even when that devotion leads to their own destruction.21