[spoilers] Lucas and his tattoos

[Byatil]

(12-12-2010 07:49 PM)blackpearl23456 Wrote:  But one thing I do wonder about Lucas and his tattoos is why, upon his return to England, did he not have the removed? I would have thought that he would have wanted to. He seemed so keen to try and forget the past (although it proved difficult, as things kept bringing up memories), and, in my opinion at least, it would have made sense for him to get rid of one of the most major memories of his time in Russia: his tattoos.

I think in a way he probably liked to remind people (as well as himself) of what he'd been through. He never seems to 'let go' of his experience in Russia, and often repeats phrases such as "I did 8 years for this!" in retort to his co-workers. I don't think it is the tattoos themselves that make Lucas feel uncomfortable, but more likely the fact that they reveal aspects of his persona that would not necessarily be obvious to everyone he interacts with. He never appears self-conscious over his tattoos (except when Elizabeta comments on them and he covers the band on his arm), and indeed has a tendency to show them off somewhat. The scene in 7.1 where Lucas is washing himself in the bathroom almost seems slightly unnecessary - if Lucas didn't want people to see his tattoos, surely he would have put his shirt back on upon noticing Harry enter the room. However, he proceeds to show Harry both the front and back of his torso and they discuss the Latin phrases. That implies to me that the tattoos are not only being used as a plot device in terms of Lucas' character, but that they were also required as part of Lucas' interaction with others, and as part of 'telling his story'.

So I'm not convinced that Lucas (the character) would have been particularly bothered about having the tattoos removed, and the tattoos themselves were a plot-device in terms of the script and it would therefore have made little sense for Lucas to have wanted rid of them.

If we also take into account the culture of prison tattooing, I'm assuming there would be an underlying meaning for Lucas' desire to keep the tattoos. It might be something as simple as the logic that "wiping away the ink won't destroy the memories", or indeed something to do with the associations of the tattoos.

My thoughts are becoming rather disjointed and nonsensical so I'll leave someone else to decipher them!