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The Tattoo Character Analysis

Decent Essays

The novel “The Tattoo” by Chris McKinney, holds a captivating story that addresses the hardships of Kenji Hideyoshi upbringing and life experiences. Ken is a new inmate at the correctional center in Hawala. During the process of being tattooed, Ken shares a significant life story of his sufferings regarding the three suns’ of his life. The three suns of Ken’s life include his family, friends, and intimate partner. However, this essay will specifically discuss the relationship between Ken and his father. This essay will also analyse sociological theories such as “socialisation” and “hegemonic masculinity” in connection to their relationship. Throughout Ken’s life, his relationship with his father was distant and inconsistent. During Ken’s upbringing, his mother passed away when he was only six years old. Ken’s mother was the only family member who provided Ken with full security and pure love. She secured him with protection from his father’s cruelty. An example of this is when Ken’s father seized a tiger shark and forced Ken to touch it. Yet Ken was violently scared as he shakes his head and takes a step back while refusing his father’s demand. As a result, his father’s violence attitude emerged as he physically grabbed Ken’s foreman and pressured his hand to touch the shark. Subsequently, Ken’s mother came to the rescue and responded with a vicious slap to the father’s face (McKinney, 1999, p.24). This shows that Ken’s mother is not only known as a safeguard to Ken but she also represents a strong willed woman who opposes the ideal hegemonic masculinity. After the death of his mother, Ken was left with his abusive father as the sole parent who showed barely any form of support. A research found that children living in a single-parent household tend to obtain higher risk of abuse. Generally, single fathers are much more likely to use physical violence towards their children (Gelles, 1989). Since Ken spent most of his childhood being raised by his aggressive father. Ken narrates a negative hatred towards his father as he describes him as an irritable dangerous man who constantly displays his devil arch eyebrows and furious eyes. The relationship between Ken and his father had always been reasonably rough.

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