In Richard Wright's "The
Man Who Was Almost a Man," is Dave ready to be a man? Does he understand
what being a man is?
In The story “The Man
Who Was Almost a Man,” Dave believes he is now a man. He wants to buy a gun
from the old man at the store. He wants to own a gun to show he has power. To
prove he is now a man.
I do not believe Dave
actually understands what being a man is. He wants the title and to be treated
like one, yet, he is not ready for the responsibility of being one. He still
has the mentality of a child and acts like one as well.
He was extremely irresponsible
with the gun while he had it in his possession. He did not understand the consequences
of his actions with the gun, and tried to lie his way out of it, when he shot
the mule on an accident.
Instead of telling
the truth about the accident like a true ‘man’ would. He chose to lie about it.Even in the end when
he got caught, he did not truly own up to his actions, and still ran off with
the gun, when his parents told him to sell it back.
Dave is not ready to
be a man, and probably will not be ready for a while. He still has a lot of
growing up and learning to do before he is ready for that title.
I absolutely loved the way you described your thoughts on this story! I used this one in my blog as well but think I focused more on how people in the world become men or women instead of answering the question, now that I have read yours and saw the difference.
ReplyDeletethank you!
ReplyDeleteThere was no way Dave was ready to be a man. Dave really has no idea what it is to be a man, it takes way more than a gun to be a man. It was a great short story and has good meaning behind it. The writer put in good detail about the way Dave was going about trying to be a man.
ReplyDeleteWe all tend to have issues of owning up to responsibility sometimes. I agree with you fully in the situation of Dave not being a responsible adult. He lied from the beginning: he had no intention of buying the gun for his father, he wanted it for himself to use against his boss, and when the mule was shot he didn't own up to it. A responsible person is there to take responsibility no matter the situation or circumstance.
ReplyDelete