| "Parker's Back" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Flannery O'Connor |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Southern Gothic |
| Published in | Everything That Rises Must Converge |
| Publication type | single author anthology |
| Publication date | 1965 |
"Parker's Back" is a short story by Flannery O'Connor. It was published in 1965 in her short story collection Everything That Rises Must Converge. O'Connor finished the collection during her final battle with lupus. She died in 1964, just before her final book was published. A devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor often used religious themes in her work.
Parker's Back tells the story of a non-religious man, Parker, who has been obsessed with tattooing his body since childhood when he saw a tattooed man. He tattoos nearly his entire body, except his back because he cannot see tattoos on his back. After a cold, awkward courtship, Parker marries a seemingly fundamentalist woman, Sarah Ruth, who acts very judgmental towards him despite his seeming unbelief. He frequently contemplates leaving her.
After negligently crashing and destroying a tractor at work which nearly kills him, Parker abruptly leaves the scene and is filled with a desire to tattoo an image of God on his back. He also believes that this will please his harshly religious wife. After getting a tattoo of God with piercing eyes, other people are convinced Parker has had an awakening experience with divine grace, however, Sarah Ruth is not impressed and attacks and berates him for what she claims is idolatry.[1]
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