Reading “It’s Bad Luck to Die” offers a look into a lifestyle that may be considered ‘alternative’ by today’s standards. By 1960’s standards, the very topic of the story would be considered taboo: A couple who express their love through the art of tattoos.
The way in which the narrator speaks to her audience, to the reader, indulges them in the tale of her love with Tiny, her husband and a tattoo artist. The narrator tells the story in a composed manner. Reminiscent, though not painting the past as overly happy. She starts off peppering facts about herself into the introductory paragraph. She’s Jewish, from Des Moines; she has had Jesus Christ tattooed thrice on her body. Then she casually drops in the fact that she’s telling this story six months after Tiny was laid to rest. When starting out the story, the most striking aspect that first hits the reader is the age gap. The narrator is fresh out of high school and falls in love with a 49-year-old man whom she knew for only a year before tying the knot. It can set the stage for instant judgement at first glance; however, if the reader continues, they may find themself forgetting about the age gap as the narrator speaks. The narrator details her experiences over the next several years of being married to Tiny and the exploits that came with marrying a tattoo artist in the 1960’s. The way her mother disapproved of their tattoos, but knew she could do nothing about it. The change that came over the narrator’s cousin, Babs, from wild girl to politician’s wife. The passage of time, its toll on Tiny, and the effects of old age catching up with him. Tiny’s death is not explicitly talked about, though the narrator does convey the sense that by the end of the story, Tiny most certainly is gone.
On a final note, the way in which the narrator describes the tattoo process–the preparation steps the artist must perform pre-needle, the level of pain experienced by the receiver, and the aftercare–illustrates that the author, McCracken, must possess an amount of experience with tattoo parlors. It’s also intriguing to see the ways in which the author views reasons for getting a tattoo, and it is fascinating to see the different reasons for tattoo acquisition for different people. Whether it is a decision made while drunk, a dare, a search for a wild time, or as an expression of love.
I thought that it was interesting how you put it that the narrator “indulges them in the tale of her love with Tiny.” Lois does have a real fondness for Tiny seen throughout the story, like how she recounts on p. 10 that he was the one who changed her wanting to avoid mirrors, or how she starts to see the needle and his tattoos as another way to show her love to him. Her first tattoo of a butterfly that he gave her the day that they got married seems to me like a way of her settling into her and affirming her life with him. Though, there is a sort of nonchalance, she doesn’t mention a funeral, grieving, or anything of the sort. She talks more about pacifying her mother than how her life is functioning without Tiny in it. This is a tale of love, her love for Tiny and vice versa, but the ending does feel like a chapter closing indefinitely. It’s unclear whether she is going to (or even wants to) move on from Tiny because people sound like they bore, agitate, and exhaust her, but the ending line does have a sense of finality to it like she’s content with this tale coming to an end.
I think I can see all that you mean, other than maybe where you say, “Tiny is most certainly gone.” I feel that throughout the story, she gives a strong sense that his work carries him on throughout at least as long as she lives. I think it stands more strongly at a point where she notes his initials on her (page 9 is what I’m thinking of). Another point I think it stands most strongly is the end. She states that other people know about Tiny’s work and their love of it–or interest in her could also be such. Whether it is printed on her body, in her heart, or in the heart’s of others, I think she sees Tiny living on in his work.