Conflict in Parkers Back Essay -- Literary Analysis

Who can dare say they have never encountered a conflict? No one is without conflict; there will never be a person who says they have never faced a problem. What is a conflict? Most think an opposition or a struggle of some nature. It can be that and more, to state it simply its man vs. anything; that anything can be nature, God, self, and even fellow man. Many of these can be observed in Parker’s Back written by Flannery O’Connor. Parker’s Back is a short story about a man named O.E. Parker who is obsessed with tattoos; the irony is he marries a religious woman who loathes tattoos. In Parker’s Back there are three types of conflict that appear man vs. man, man vs. self, and man vs. God. Man vs. Man is a conflict that can be seen throughout the story. For example, when Parker is telling his wife Sarah Ruth about his tattoos. â€Å" â€Å"I got most of my other ones in foreign parts,† Parker said. â€Å"These here I mostly got in the United States. I got my first one when I was only fifteen years old.† â€Å"Don’t tell me,† the girl said, â€Å"I don’t like it. I ain’t got any use for it.† â€Å"You ought to see the ones you can’t see,† Parker said and winked† (O’Connor 2). Sarah automatically shows her distaste for them, later on even going so far as to call Parker a fool for having them. This particular problem can be witnessed though out the rest of the story. This struggle does not end even when the audience has arrived to the end of the story. For instance, when Parker slams his hand in the hood part of the car. â€Å" â€Å"God dammit!† he hollered, â€Å"Jesus Christ in hell! Jesus God Almighty damn! God dammit to hell!† he went on, flinging out the same few oaths over and over as loud as he could. Without warning a terrible bristly claw slammed the side of his face an... ...n v. self, and man vs. God are all types of conflicts that appear in the short story Parker’s Back. Conflict is a major factor in the plot and structure of Parker’s Back. Works Cited Andrews, Charles. "Colored Man: The Ambiguous White Male Body In "Parker's Back." Flannery O'connor Review 6. (2008): 70-80. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2012. Cofer, Jordan. "The "All-Demanding Eyes": Following The Old Testament And New Testament Allusions In Flannery O'connor's "Parker's Back." Flannery O'connor Review 6.(2008): 30-39. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2012. O'Connor, Flannery. Parker's Back. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1965. Everything That Rises Must Converge. Web. 19 Feb. 2012. .