The short stories Tattoo by Wallace Graves and Betty Ann by Ina Hughs are both stories of peer influence on the actions of the main characters. Tattoo is about a man named Banty who is influenced into getting a tattoo by one of his officers. He regrets getting the tattoo and tries to convince his friend into getting one too; this in turn causes him a strong feeling of shame and sorrow. Betty Ann is about a group of girls that torment the new girl in their school. This causes Betty to have a mental breakdown and the girls to feel regret and shame. Although the setting and characters may differ, the themes, conflicts, and dénouement of both stories are very similar.
At first glance, one would think the themes of these stories are different, this can't be farther from the truth. The theme for Betty Ann is be careful of your actions. This is not shown by the narrator as a child. She joins right in to torment poor Betty Ann. As an adult however, she regrets every time she made fun of her. Ina feels nothing but shame when she thinks of Betty Ann because she didn't know what she was doing at the time. Also, she didn't want to stick up for Betty at the cost of her friendship with the group, so she didn't try to stop it or ease the pain of the poor girl. The theme of Tattoo isn't much different. It is look before you leap. This is not shown by Banty until after the harm is done. Charley pressures Banty into getting a tattoo. Banty does because he doesn't want to be looked down upon by the rest of the ship so he doesn't fight it. As soon as the tattoo is finished, he wished he never went into the tattoo parlor. His best friend, shocked that he got a tattoo, now looks up to Banty even more. Banty lies to his friend to try him to get a tattoo also. He figures that if his friend Donald gets a tattoo he won't be in such misery. Banty then takes Donald to the tattoo parlor and pressures him into getting one.
