The Man Who Was Almost a Man is a fictitious short story about an uneducated black boy's quest to become a man. Growing up in the early 1900's was a very hard task for most black people. The lack of education was one of the hardest hills they had to overcome to make it in a world dominated by whites. The story centers upon one 17-year boy who has very low self-esteem caused by his peers. He believes that owning a gun will gain him respect with others and thus make him a man. The title of this short story has several different ways of being interpreted because the time and atmosphere in which it was written. The short story was written in first person narrative, which gives a graphic account of the personality of the character Dave. The short story is also written in a dialect of an uneducated black boy which gives the reader the feel of what is was like to be that young man back in the early 1900's.

The stories title The Man Who Was Almost a Man holds many different meanings to how Dave must have felt back in those times. Dave's struggle was man versus society in an era where his skin color meant more than his actions. He was unable to interact with the white society and wa

s outcast by his peers because of his age. He believed at this time in his life that being a man was the more important than life itself. Buying a gun and learning to shoot was his solution to becoming a man. This was not the case though. The first time he fired the gun it numbed his hands and fell to the ground. He also shot Mr. Hawkin's mule, which he was unable to cover up. Now everyone would know what he had done which would give his peers a bad impression of him. He would not gain their respect, nor would he be able to socialize with them. Wright's stories of helpless or long-suffering blacks victimized by societal and individual white brutality mark the beginning of a new era in black fiction, and even his least important pieces contain unforgettable scenes and characters that burn their way into the reader's consciousness (Brignano 20). He would not be a man in their eyes or his own.

Joyce, Joyce Ann. Richard Wright's Art of Tragedy. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1986.

Dave's struggle to become a man was one he thought could be obtained by a simple act of owning a gun. The Man Who Was Almost a Man was written about all people in their transition from child to adult. Wright captures his meaning by describing his childhood through Dave. Wright's cunning use of first person narrative projects a harsh realism of life as a black in the early 1900's. His use of vocabulary helps define the character's education in the story. Dave's struggle with life is shown through his bad judgement in thinking a gun will make him a man. Life was hard back then and being accepted played a big role in all blacks searching for that one thing that would make them accepted within their society.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1719
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)