The Man Who Almost Was a ManJoin now to read essay The Man Who Almost Was a ManIn The Short Story, “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”, by Richard Wright the author narrates on the story of Dave, a young, African-American farm laborer struggling in the racist atmosphere of the rural South. The author shows that Dave’s fantasy is to own a gun to make him feel more like a man, and how he thinks owning a gun would allow him to stand up to his fellow workers giving him power over them as well as respect from them. Wright then takes his fantasy and shows the bad consequences that come along with having possession of a gun. The behavior that Dave shows when a gun comes into his possession reveals just how much of a man Dave does not become.
As the title suggests, Dave is in a stage between boyhood and adulthood. In various ways, all of the other figures in the story such as Dave’s parents, Hawkins, and the unnamed men he works with all threaten Dave’s sense of manhood. Dave’s problem is that he is almost a man, “Ahm seventeen. Almost a man (Wright 333)”. Dave’s lack of social and economic power makes him very much aware that he is not quite one yet. Dave’s father, a physically powerful adult man, is characterized as something less than a man because he does not have a gun and because of his surrender to the white Hawkins every day at work. Therefore we can see that Wright is suggesting that Dave will never have the chance to fully be a man if he follows the footsteps of his Dad. He must take action to ensure his transition to manhood.
Dave’s economic status contributes to his struggle for power and respect. Although he works hard to earn money, he does not have the liberty that comes with financial independence. For example, Dave has to go to his Mom to obtain the two bucks for the gun that he wants. Dave fantasizes that the gun will give him the power that he lacks as a young black farm worker, but in fact, the gun results in further entrapping him in a situation of economic exploitation. Dave does not seem particularly conscious of the fact that he not being offered an adequate compensation for his labor, but his aggression toward Hawkins’ property, killing Jenny, the mule, and his thinking about shooting at Hawkins’ big
Worst of all is that Dave was killed with a single shot. His first words to the cops? “You think Dave’s just getting killed by police? Come in! Go in.” Dave could not believe this. Instead of thinking this was one of the worst things he has ever taken part of or done as a police officer, he thought it was an accident and he wouldn’t make contact. Instead of being a victim of physical assault, he had been called to a meeting of those involved in a crime where there was concern that somebody with “the gun” might take control of the situation’ a concern that, when police do come to the meeting, is quickly followed by their concern to call police to a shooting. So it should come as no surprise that there was a feeling of powerlessness and that it would have been difficult for the Black Lives Matter crowd to take control of a situation where it would not make the situation any easier.
As the police continued to call cops in the meeting, Dave’s shot had a strange effect. The officers started to yell like, “He shot David. He shot David!” This is what we would usually call an “un-manned man.” But when a cop went from screaming incoherent to “What did David mean by that???” and then saying, “Oh, David, David, he shot me twice. Why? Why did David do that??”) But Dave made no effort to explain what the cops were saying which, it turns out, took David’s hands. At one point he began screaming incoherently and yelling that if the police wouldn’t call again he would “kill me.”
He then started to make an effort to explain why he didn’t expect the cops to put the gun on him. Instead, he says, “Don’t you think the reason we had to shoot David was to get the gun ready for David, but that that was an illegal thing to do?” Well, that’s what it sounds like. It sounds like David shot his ass about it when he says “Don’t you think it was an illegal thing to do” and then goes, “So what did that mean? I was trying so hard to get David to do the right thing before he shot me.” Then he goes, “Fuck you. I’m not going to let anyone give you a gun. What should I do.” We think it’s all very strange.
Now we understand that there might have been some sort of confrontation occurring and what has happened is David had the advantage of not being able to put the gun on him, since he was only about a foot away when he shot the cops, and didn’t see them