O'Connor repeatedly provides characters who exhibit such extreme confidence in their moral prerogatives that they act upon these convictions, only to discover that they were sadly mistaken. The protagonist of "Parker's Back" clearly demonstrates this human fault. To gain respect in his wife's eyes, Parker decides to hire a tattoo artist to engrave an image of Christ upon his back, to accompany all the other body art he has been collecting since his time in the service. When the pool-hall occupants ask him why he did it, Parker initially responds in rage, only to be kicked out into the...
Source: Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction, ©2001 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 1049 words.)
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