“Parker’s Back” centers around the spiritual transformation of the protagonist: Obadiah Elihue Parker. While at first he resists his calling, he eventually is forced to reckon with it, leading to an inner transformation and a new spiritual identity. The reader sees Parker being pursued by the divine without fully comprehending it. From becoming strangely mesmerized by the tattooed man at the fair, to being compelled to pursue his wife, to his transformative decision to tattoo God on his body, at each pivotal moment of his life he feels compelled in a certain direction without comprehending why. This speaks to the biblical idea of being called by God or pursued by God, Parker’s life seems to be shaped by a divine force.

Parker begins as a man who rejects his spiritual identity, which is symbolized by his refusal to say his full name to Sarah Ruth. In the biblical context, names are infused with meaning. Parker’s first name, Obadiah, means “servant or slave of God,” and his second name, Elihue, means “my God is He.” Parker’s refusal to say his name can be read as a refusal to participate in the divine plan for his life.