Critical Analysis: "The Man Who Was Almost a Man"
Richard Wright's "The Man Who Was Almost a Man," is the story of Dave Saunders, a young man's struggle with life and death; and good and evil. The good is his desire to have a positive life and become a man and the evil is the challenge of having to overcome all the negative factors in life; his family and society. Dave is a seventeen-year-old young man who wants the world to recognize his manhood. Gaining the respect and power so closely associated with manhood is extremely important to Dave since he has never been given the opportunities to be treated as a man. The men who work in the fields with him see him as being young and stupid. Moreover, "nobody ever gave him anything. All he did was work. They treat [him] like a mule..." (Page 282) Dave sees the problem, of his manhood being ignored, as a black-and-white issue; owning a gun will prove he is a man. Most of the people who Dave talks to in the story help to fan the flames of his desire to assert his manhood, by owning a gun, because they treat him l as if he is a little boy. Dave's desire to own a gun results in him precipitating the disaster of accidentally murdering a mule, and rather than being made to feel like a boy for two additional years while he works to pay
A teacher of mine once had a poster, which read, "The truth will make you free. The fact that Dave believes that a gun is synonymous with manhood is an indication of how his environment has caused him to become delusional. Many protagonists struggle with their situations and their conflict creates light along with the heat. However, upon further examination, Dave appears to be less responsible for his shortcomings, poor parent support and a sense of hopelessness. Hawkins, his boss and owner of the murdered mule. Dave does not want a gun; he wants to be a man, which is a natural and healthy desire. He kills the mule and though he does not realize it, this sets in motion his liberation, his chance to become a man. Sometimes the past has to die, or be killed before the future can be born. In addition to being seventeen, Dave also appears to be semi-retarded and mistreated by both parents, which greatly impacts his life. They learn a lesson, they have a realization, and they take a step forward. Dave stumbles forward in this story, not backward. Dave who was almost a man, but not quite, deserves to be called "boy" at seventeen and forever. He is given no responsibility, not even the chance to hold on to part of his earnings. But first it will make you miserable.
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