| I don't think looking at book covers will answer anything -- they will simply be artists' interpretations. These will be focused on artistic requirements, not literary accuracy.
The text of the prologue says that when he had the long-sleeved shirt buttoned up, the observer couldn't see anything unusual. So it seems safe to conclude that there are no tattoos on his face, head, or the backs of his hands. There are two areas left with vague markings -- I don't think they were completely blank, just vague -- a spot on his chest and a spot on his right shoulderblade. He says there's not an illustration, just a "jumble". So there is not a blank area, just a jumble -- a kind of undefined mess of color.
In the final story, "The Illustrated man" there is more detail about the illustrations. The content of the last two tattoos (completed as his life unfolds)are defined.
When he first removes his shirt, the traveler sees that the tattoos go from his neck to his beltline. The illustrated man says, "It keeps right on going . . . all of me is illustrated." I guess we can take him at his word on that. No need to speculate too much, is there?
The other thing we notice about the "canvas" of the illustrations, is the the Illustrated man is fat. In the prologue, he is described as someone being muscular, but gone downhill. But the final story indicates he is fat enough to sicken his wife (she no longer wants physical intimacy with him), and he is fat enough to offer himself as a carnival exhibit as the fat man. His wife compares him to a beached whale. His fat rolls are so large, they conceal tattoos underneath them:
"In so many accordian pleats of fat, numerous small scorpions, beetles, and mice were crushed, held, hid, darting into view, vanishing, as he raised or lowered his chins. 'My God,' said Lisabeth. 'My husband's a freak.' She ran from the trailor and he was left alone to pose before the mirror.Why had he done it? To have a job, yes, but, most of all, to cover the fat that had larded itself impossibly over his bones. To hide the fat under a layer of color and fantasy, to hide it from his wife, but most of all from himself." |
