Richard Wright's The Man Who Was Almost a Man is a story of an adolescent boy, Dave, trying to become his vision of a man. He feels that in order to be recognized as a man you need to instill fear in others, proving that his idea of manhood is warped. Throughout the story, Dave is presented with problems such as self-doubt, frustration with his parents, and racial issues. Although these troubles seem like normal adolescent problems to me, the way Dave deals with them is underlined with irony. He is striving to become respected and recognized because he feels that those are the qualities a man has. However, in his attempts in proving that to people, he receives what are viewed as negative opinions of a man, such as a liar, a killer, and ignorant.
             In the opening of the story, Dave talks about how he needs a gun in order for others to consider him a man. In the first few lines of the story, " 'Whut's the use talking wid em niggers in the field?' 'Them niggers cant understan nothing.' One of these days he was going to get a gun and practice shooting, then they couldn't talk to him as though he were a little boy". Not only does he feel he needs a gun to be a man, but this reveals his views on "niggers." It can be said that the term "nigger," to Dave, a black man, is not a racial slur but an insult to someone's intelligence. However, paradoxically his use of this slur displays his own ignorance making him appear to be a hypocrite. Clearly this is not a characteristic typically associated with being a man.
             Promising his mother that he would give the gun to his father, she gives him the money to purchase one. However, he lies to her and brings it to work with him the next day. He takes out Mr. Hawkins mule, Jenny, to go plow the fields. When he gets far away from the farm Dave decides he is going to fire the gun, however he closes his eyes and accid...