Richard Wright

The Man Who Was Almost a Man

This story dramatizes the transition of the character from childhood to

adulthood. Wright is one of the first Afro - American writers, and is the most particular
writer belonging to the Harlem Renaissance. These people are not modernist writers.
Afro - American writers like Richard Wright started modern Afro - American
literature.

Harlem was the destination of many Afro - American immigrants from the
South. Many of them were descendants of former immigrants. The question of Civil
Rights was important for these people (they were struggling for having Civil Rights).

This literary generation was concerned with the Afro - Americans lack of Civil
rights. What they write is called protest literature (about segregation, racism etc).
According to Richard Wright: All literature is protest. This means that literature is a
way of representing and criticizing social inequalities.

As a result of this, The New Negro Movement arose: This was a group of
intellectual (the most radical ones) that protested against social injustice. Malcolm X is
one of the products of this movement that concentrated the voices of black intellectuals
who did not have the right to vote.

At that time there were people who justified slavery on religion because they
thought that blacks belonged to an inferior race. Many people were very critical with the
church.

Jazz and Blues: This is not the happy jazz of the 1920s, but a more experimental
jazz. Richard Wright is one of the products of this atmosphere.

Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack
of bread: This is one of Wrights most famous quotations. It means that people can
starve either physically or intellectually.
 The hunger for self realization is the freedom to express your own culture.
These people have been workforce for many years, their culture has been repressed.
Richard Wrights community never had self- realization. Many things such as attending
university were forbidden for them.

Richard Wright had a difficult childhood. He enjoyed reading and telling stories
about his experiences. He was influenced by naturalist writers. Literary naturalism is
somehow identified with realism, but it is different. Naturalism is associated with social
Darwinism. According to this theory, we adapt in order to survive. The strongest people
are the ones who survive in society. Society basically works as living organisms. It has
to change in time and adapt to the circumstances. Social Darwinism can be applied to our
society.

This short story is basically about one character. The main character is a teenager
who works in the fields and wants to have a gun.

Could kill a man with a gun like this to respect him: This is what the main
character (Dave) thinks that he is going to achieve by having the gun. He says this before
buying the gun. His family is very close to the state of slavery. He has not earned respect
yet. For him, a gun means that people will respect him, but actually a gun means fear
rather than respect.

For Dave, having a gun means that he will become an adult and it is also a symbol
of masculinity. The gun symbolizes the respect that his people never had. For slave
owners, slaves could not have access to guns because they feared that it would give rise
to a rebellion. For black people, a gun represented the possibility to stand up against the
white men.

The only thing that Dave laments is that he did not shoot at Mr. Hawkinss house.
The gun is also a symbol of the search for power. Violence is power. When Dave buys
the gun, he disobeys his mother and does not give it to her. The mule is the victim of
Daves lack of responsibility. He lies everybody saying that he has not killed the mule,
but his mother forces him to tell the truth. This shows the immature personality of the
character. Even when he has the gun, he does not have a sense of responsibility. This
indicates that he has not become an adult yet.

He is in his coming-of-age (the transition between childhood and adulthood).

What he wants most is to become a man. For him, having a gun is a symbol of adulthood,
but he is not prepared for becoming an adult yet because he lacks responsibility. His last
action is to jump into a train and leave for a place in which he can be a man. In his
home, he has not been able to do it. This is a sign of immaturity.

Dave thinks that in another place he will become a man and he will be respected.
He tries to be Mr. Hawkins, but finally he is not able to shoot at his house.

The individuals lives are controlled and shaped by larger, environmental,

economic and psychological forces (Social Darwinism). This is the motive for having the
gun. Dave wants the gun to be a grown up. He wants to change his identity, but he does
not get away with it. The consequence is humiliation. His aspiration is subverted. At the
end he has to pay for having killed the mule.