Parkers Back :: Religion, Divine Intervention

Parkers Back is filled with scriptural allusions as one homosexuals journey towards God and winning his wife ends unsuccessfully. Parker has always been a rebel however, his wife is a devout, see-through woman who has an indescrib adequate control on him, possibly due to his subconscious wish to be stilld. Parker wishes to leave her, only if finds he never chamberpot do so. Not only is he unable to please his wife, scarcely also he is unable to experience spiritual satisfaction, and in the truncated moment at the end where he does have a tie to God, his wife rids him of it. Biblical allusions are spread throughout Parkers Back, and they suffice to emphasize O.E. Parkers failure as a spiritual person.Parker notices a tattooed man at fair, where he became inspired to get tattoos. The mans tattoos are of beasts and flowers, (384) full of intricate design of brilliant color (384), as they represent an heaven that Parker sensnot have. Parkers response to the mans tattoos can n ever be replicated Parker always feels dissatisfaction with his own tattoos. The mans tattoos seemed to be alive and have a subtle motion (384), and Parker is never able to experience the emotion he felt when looking at the mans tattoos, as if he can never experience paradise again. On the other hand, Parkers tattoos seem to represent something entirely different. The ophidian on Parkers arm represents the wrongs he has done, and with the serpent on his arm, Parker cannot real experience the religious and spiritual satisfaction that his wife does. This biblical allusion of Eden and the serpent shows that Parker has struggled to find peace, and has had a troubled life.As a tattoo-clad high school school dropout, a dishonorably discharged ex-navy, and a heavy drinker, O.E. Parker is a failure. His soul is a spider web of facts and lies, (393) and compared to his devout wife, he is a failure in religion because of his lack of faith. Parker detests his own wife, calling her plain, ( 382) but he still stays with his wife, an action that caused him to be puzzled and mortified of himself (382). Perhaps the real reason he is staying with his wife is that she had married him because she meant to save him, (382) and Parker is waiting to be saved. Sarah knows that O.E. Parkers real name, Obadiah Elihue, is significant when she says it out brazen-faced in a reverent voice (387).