Skin

Roald Dahl’s use of foreshadowing and clues to indicate what will happen to Drioli provides resolution to the story despite the hint of ambiguity on which “Skin” ends. Though there is hope that Drioli ends up on the stranger’s beach with a “maid to bring him his breakfast in bed” (18), substantial textual details suggest otherwise. The first insinuation of danger is the placement of Chaim Soutine’s signature over a vital organ, Drioli’s kidney, making its removal without killing Drioli highly unlikely. Drioli’s unease with both the gallery owner and the stranger with canary gloves heightens the tension, as Drioli watches the owner with “worried eyes” and appears helpless as they discuss prospects for removing the tattoo or parading its owner down the beach as a human art exhibit. He understands the severity of the situation, and his body language shows his uncertainty: “‘I do not like this,’ Drioli said, edging away” (17). The stranger’s neck is compared to a snake’s, increasing plot tension, and his disagreement with the gallery owner—presented as though he were trying to protect Drioli—makes it clear that the man would never survive an operation to remove the tattoo.