Parker's Back

Parker is a poor man living and working in the South. As a boy, the narrator says, he doesn’t realize that “there was anything out of the ordinary about the fact that he existed” (513), revealing an indifference to the mysteries of life and death. However, when he sees a tattooed man at a fair, something is awakened in him, though it will be years until it comes to fruition.

After a dishonorable discharge from the navy, Parker spends his days picking up odd jobs and spending his spare earnings on tattoos. He considers himself attractive, noting that even an old woman might feel drawn to a young man “particularly if he was as attractive as Parker felt he was” (511), which signifies his attachment to physicality over spirituality. This attachment to the physical realm is further explored through Parker’s constant pursuit of the “intricate arabesque of colors” that tattoos provide (514). Furthermore, his desire to only get tattoos where he can see them indicates that Parker is uninterested in things that aren’t tangible and visible. Similarly, the pleasures he finds in life are primarily physical (such as tattoos, drinking, and sex) and he refuses to look inward for a more meaningful experience.