Question

My father won’t talk about the numbers 3-7-8-2-5 between the wrist and elbow blue as blood on his left forearm Instead, he spreads himself over me spilling his protection, like acid, until it burns I wear him like a cloak, sweat under the weight There were stories in the lines on his face the nervous blue flash in his eyes his bone-crushing hugs I am drowning in his silence trying to stay afloat on curiosity Questions choke me and I swallow hard We don’t breathe the same air speak the same language live in the same universe We are continents, worlds apart I am sorry my life has remained unscathed His scars still bleed, his bruises don’t fade If I could trade places with him I would pad the rest of his days wrap him in gauze and velvet absorb the shocks and treat his wounds I would scrub the numbers from his flesh extinguish the fire and give him back his life Analyze the way in which “Tattoo” by Gregg Shapiro is related to the issues of a historical time period.

Answer 1

In this poem, the tattoo works as a two-layer symbol: first of all, as an actual tattoo it is a mark used by the nazis to number the jews they sent to concentration camps. This is the historical period reflected in the poem.

The second layer is the tattoo as a permanent mark for the person who bears it. They are usually made voluntarily and in order to remember some impotant achievement or experience, to express an emotion.

In this case, the numbers "3-7-8-2-5" tattooed in his father's arm was imposed during the Holocaust, and as a survivor it still marks his life and his experiences. Having survived the horrors of the Holocaust, he tries to protect and embrace his child the best he can, to the point of "bone-crushing", but he does not speak aboutit, neither does his child dare to ask about the tattoo or his experiences.

The Holocaust has marked the father's life to the point that both father and son "don't breath the same air", and his inner scars, like the permanent reminder of the tattoo "still bleed". That is why the speaker of the poem wishes he could absorve his father's pain and "scrub the numbers from his flesh", the symbol of the permanent anguish of the Holocaust survivor.