In the first three chapters of the novel The Tattoo, written by Chris McKinney, we are introduced to the characters Cal, Ken and Koa. Cal is a haole tattoo artist who can longer speak due to a knife to the throat that he received during a prison fight. Ken is Cal's new bunkmate in the prison and while receiving a tattoo from Cal he tells him his life story. We are introduced to Kens best friend, Koa, while Ken is recalling the events that led him to where he is now, prison. As Ken is telling his story to Cal, we are simultaneously given a glimpse within the prison walls. As the story starts out, we find that Nu'u runs the prison. Cal is friends with Nu'u and during a conversation with Cal and Ken he talks about another prisoner, "Dat's Johnny Lazario. You read about him in da papers? Fucka raped dat chick on da Big Island right aft he went kill her boyfriend. First week he wuz hea, I made him my bitch just on principle (McKinney, 37)." We see the social stratification of the prison develop as Ken fends for Nu'u's position in the prison by threatening him with the handle of a spoon and grabbing his manhood later in the book. As a haole, Cal takes a lot of heat from other prisoners and hears the racism against him, and others on the island, during Ken's story. Haoles, or white people, are considered to be the outgroup of the prison and of the island. The ingroup of the prison, and the island, would be considered the "locals". The social identity theory is prevalent as Ken tells his life story during his time spent with Koa. The social identity theory holds that ingroup members almost automatically think of their group as being better than outgroups because doing so enhances their own social status or social identity and thus raises the value of their personal identity (Parillo, 18). Koa and Ken spent many of their days during high school summers trolling the town for haoles to beat them up for the mere fact of them being haole. In one part of the book, before Ken and Koa get sent to prison, Koa comes up with the plan to steal dog tags from the military guys who they beat up and has aspirations of collecting "over a hundred dog tags".
The thoughts that Ken has about going to town and leaving the Westside after his high school graduation are something that I can relate to. He knows that the Westside is all he knows however he also knows that he wants something more. In a conversation with Koa's soon-to-be wife about the future Ken feels at ease, "I decided I liked her even more. She worried about the future, and it made me feel like I had a partner, like I wasn't the only one. (McKinney, 87)" Ken knows that he could assimilate with the others in town however he is scared to leave Koa and the life he had made for himself behind. The characters of Ken and Koa are very opposite in terms of their ability and willingness to assimilate with others. Koa does not understand why leaving the Westside is so appealing to Ken however Ken knows that school is his only "ticket" out. After graduating high school in 2004 I knew that I wanted more for myself than staying in San Francisco my whole life. At the same time, I also knew I wasn't ready. After evaluating my options I decided to take a few years off of school and stay in San Francisco to work full-time. When I went back to school not only was I more than ready to get out of San Francisco but I was also a much better student.
References
McKinney, Chris. The Tattoo. Mutual Publishing, 2000.
Parrillo, Vincent. Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations. Pearson, Print.
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