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Sadistic Pleasure

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Dyan Vaile Kellie Cannon ENG-112-06W June 3, 2015

A Sadistic Pleasure “The Tattooer” Junichiro Tanizaki

The Story of “The Tattooer” by Junichiro Tanizaki is a colorful story enriched with non-sexual sadistic pleasure and is brought to life with his choice of words and the story line makes it not only sadistic but also extremely erotic and somewhat of a love story by the way he portrays pleasure in the form of sadism. This is all done through emotional and internal sensual gratification instead of sexual. It is about passion, desire, control, and power all found within one’s self.

This story takes place in Japan in a time where wealthy men would go to extensive lengths to impress and attract the young women such as geishas. It was a time where young delicate women could control any willing man by simply letting him indulge in her beauty. Men would decorate their bodies with ink to show their masculinity to these young women in hopes they would be so inclined to have the woman give them a glimpse of her sweet tenderness. There was an exquisite tattooer in the village named Seikichi. Seikichi was a unique painter and tattooer. However, Seikichi did not accept just anyone seeking a tattoo, nor did he accept payment, for Seikichi’s payment was giving the tattoo itself.

Seikichi deems to be a form of a sadist. His pleasure came from the pain the people on the other end of the needle endured. The author declares “His pleasure lay in the agony men felt as he drove his needles into them, torturing their swollen, blood-red flesh; and the louder they groaned, the keener was Seikichi’s strange delight”( Tanizaki 80). To Seikichi this seemed to be a away to fulfill his own desires. On one hand, Seikichi appears to be a form of a narcissist. He would tattoo these men to make them more beautiful as if no one portrays any beauty without his art works on them. On the other hand, a narcissist thinks that they are better than everyone else. The way Tanizaki described Seikichi it appears that he is very lost in life. Like an artist without paint, or a canvas without an artist. This does not appear to be very narcissistic but every once in a while he would say something that would make me think he was. He was at least a narcissist where his paintings and art work was concerned since most of the admired arts in the museum were his (Jun’ichiro).

Though Seikichi did take great pleasure in inflicting these painful yet beautiful artistic works on men, he had a deep desire for something more. He has longed for a beautiful young woman to tattoo his most sensual masterpiece on. He has longed for her so much that he has even painted his own desire of the beauty and power this meek woman would possess. One day while traveling village he caught a glimpse of the most delicate porcelain foot. A foot so embodied with beauty that it stirred up his sadistic desires. “This, indeed was a foot to be nourished by men’s blood, a foot to trample on their bodies” (Jun’ichiro 81). To his regret, this foot vanished and he was unable to catch a glimpse of this beauties face.

One day to Seikichi’s surprise a messenger came to his gate to deliver a package with a request of some of his art to be laid upon a cloak, a cloak to be worn by this young future geisha whom is delivering it. Once Seikichi caught a glimpse of this young girl’s foot he knew it was the foot of the goddess he lost in the village some seasons back. He describes this young beauty as “having a face of experience, as if she had already spent years in the gay quarters and had fascinated innumerable men” (Tanizaki 81). Without any reluctance he invited this young girl in to show her his paintings.

The Sexual power and mystery in these scrolls of painting he showed her scared her, but not in a fearful way. She actually felt arousal in a way of sadistic control. The paintings revealed the most magnificent beauty in a woman and the torture of men at her fingertips. This was quite eerie to her to feel such feelings over these painting which most would find atrocious.

Seikichi was very sadistic when his tattoos were given to men. All of his pleasure was to watch them squirm and cry in agony throughout the many hours upon days it took to finish their work. When it came time to tattoo this young woman he has so long desired to put his masterpiece on, Seikichi numbed her with anesthetic. His desire to cause pain and torture no longer existed and was transformed into a passionate lifelong dream. As he tattooed this young beauty his erotica came from her still body lying lifeless while he draped over her with his ink, tools, and desires. He knew that once she awoke she would be transformed into the most desirable woman and no men could resist her poisonous desires.

When the young woman did awake, and caught a glimpse of the full back piece he had tattooed on her, the black widow spider, it was almost like a fire ignited inside her and she was now the most exotic, erotic siren of a woman whom no man would resist. At this point Seikichi has now completed the fantasy he has carried with him his whole life. Not all forms of sadism are sexual. We has humans are so diverse and we all desire different things. In Seikichi’s case he desired to create, to him, the most beautiful woman no man could resist. He did this with his passion and talent for arts. Some say sadism is linked to personality disorder (Feister). I do not think that is Seikichi’s case because one his work was complete he was satisfied. In fact, the closing paragraph Seikichi begged “Let me see your tattoo one more time” (Tanizaki 84). This statement shows his character turning from sadist to masochist. It was a complete transformation of character. I wonder what his next type of desire would be in the story continued.

Works Cited:
Tanizaki, Jun’ichirō. “The Tattooer.” 1910. PDF File. 25 May 2015.
Fiester, Susan J., and Martha Gay. "Sadistic Personality Disorder: A Review of Data and Recommendations for DSM-IV." Journal of personality disorders 5.4 (1991): 376-85. ProQuest. Web. 4 June 2015.

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