Symbolism In The Man Who Was Almost A Man

745 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism in literature

The Man Who Was Almost a Man by Richard Wright is based on a seven-teen year old boy named Dave Saunders, who worked on a plantation plowing the fields and deep down, felt absolutely powerless. The short story introduces Dave as a weaker link compared to all the other plantation workers. “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.” (Wright 294) This passage proves that Dave was treated very differently on the job. Wright uses symbolism in the story as to which the gun that Dave wants to buy, symbolizes him being a man. He wants to feel that power, he wants to mean something, and he wants to feel strong and free.

Dave Saunders was the man that was almost …show more content…

Joe’s store because for one, Mr. Joe seems to know the Saunders family well and second, he was about to take the first step in what he believes is manhood and start looking for the right gun. In Dave’s eyes, this was a very big deal. “You ain’t nothing but a boy. You don’t need a gun” (Wright 295) Just to have Mr. Joe call him a boy after he built up the courage to go in the store and ask for the gun catalog. Until Mr. Joe offered to sell him an immense old gun of his. “Oh, it’s kind of old… a left-hand Wheeler. A pistol. A big one.” (Wright …show more content…

Just when he thinks everything is fine, he accidentally shoots the mule, Jenny. Right after the incident, Dave felt distressed. “Dave’s stomach felt empty, very empty.” (Wright 300) When Dave was put on the spot and asked about the gun and the mule plenty of times he still lied. “Well, looks like you have bought you a mule, Dave.” (Wright 301) Dave’s realizing that he made a mistake and is unsure about what to do. You can tell he’s this upset him and make him uneasy because he keeps stuttering when he’s glaring and showing attitude. “Dave glared, his eyes welling with water. Hot anger bubbled in him.” (Wright 302) Dave’s world came crashing down. He thought having the gun would make him a man and solve everything. He thought he would be invincible. He was wrong. Dave had so much fiery inside of him from being treated as a little boy and being laughed at, that he went out into the woods to practice shooting before he took his final leap to manhood. “He felt his pocket; the gun was still there. Ahead the long rails were glinting in the moonlight, stretching away, away to somewhere, somewhere where he could be a man…” (Wright

Show More
Related

  • Symbolism in Bernard Malamud's The Natural

    2419 Words  | 5 Pages

    The role of symbolism in Bernard Malamud's The Natural is important in helping the reader understand the theme and meaning of the novel as well as the time period in which it took place.  Malamud¡¦s use of symbolism defines the character of Roy Hobbs and shows how the events occurring around him affected his decisions and, eventually, his career.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Albert Camus The Stranger

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    In every single novel, the importance of the symbolism is probably as important as the language the novel is written in. Author uses symbolism to create memorable scenes that have a hidden meaning behind their original face value. Symbolism especially plays a huge role in the novel by Albert Camus, ”the Outsider” , where author’s examples imply various emotional short-cuts and serve as a helper to understand the inner world of the main character – Meursault. This is a thought-provoking novel, which brilliantly illustrated Albert Camus’s theme of absurdity. One interesting aspect about “The stranger” is the protagonist, where in his life there are no certain meanings and motives for his actions and his life overall. The absurdity of the protagonist has no rational explanation. Each of the many actions by Meursault have huge influence on the description of the indifference of the world, where symbolism used by the protagonist underlines the human’s dignity and unimportance of the world. In the provocative novel “The stranger” by Albert Camus uses symbolism such as the crucifix, th...

    Read More

  • The Man Who Was Almost a Man

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    ending where he decides to leave his house when everyone is asleep. Dave is also mad how everyone is treating him, and how all he ever gets do is work all the time and has never been given anything in his life. Dave is even mad at his family, especially his mother for ratting him out. He did not want to sell the gun and give the money to Mr. Hawkins as his father instructed him to do. He wanted to keep the gun because he wanted to ow...

    Read More

  • Richard Wright's Big Boy Leaves Home

    2258 Words  | 5 Pages

    Richard Wright’s “Big Boy Leaves Home” confronts a young black person’s forced maturation at the hands of unsympathetic whites. Through his almost at times first person descriptions, Wright makes Big Boy a hero to us. Big Boy hovers between boyhood and adulthood throughout the story, and his innocence is lost just in time for him to survive. Singled out for being larger than his friends, he is the last to stand, withstanding bouts with white men, a snake, and a dog, as we are forced to confront the different levels of nature and its inherent violence.

    Read More

  • Irony and Foreshadowing in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find

    1618 Words  | 4 Pages

    As I read Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, I find myself being completely consumed by the rich tale that the author weaves; a tragic and ironic tale that concisely and precisely utilizes irony and foreshadowing with expert skill. As the story progresses, it is readily apparent that the story will end in a tragic and predictable state due to the devices which O’Connor expertly employs and thusly, I find that I cannot stop reading it; the plot grows thicker with every sentence and by doing so, the characters within the story are infinitely real in my mind’s eye. As I consider these factors, the story focuses on two main characters; that of the grandmother, who comes across as self-centered and self-serving and The Misfit, a man, who quite ingeniously, also appears to be self-centered and self-serving. It is the story behind the grandmother, however, that evidence appears to demonstrate the extreme differences between her superficial self and the true character of her persona; as the story unfolds, and proof of my thought process becomes apparently clear.

    Read More

  • Obstacles In Richard Wright's Native Son

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    Obstacles are opportunities in disguise. If a person is starving with only one sunflower seed, he/she has a choice to either plant the sun flower seed or to eat it. His obstacle is only having one sunflower, but his opportunity is to plant it. Women and men from urban areas are faced with these decisions everyday of choosing starvation v. assurance, mind v. matter, now v. forever. They are hit with harsh reality in some of the most severe ways, that the bad options can outweigh the good. Alternatively, there those who are hit, though they fight back. The obstacles of living in an urban environment, being faced with controversial experiences, and their relationships during their childhood are what shaped their character and possibly dictate

    Read More

  • A Good Man Is Hard To Find Symbolism Essay

    1422 Words  | 3 Pages

    The symbolism in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” truly represents Flanner O’Connor’s writing style and underlying theme. O’Connor exhibits the theme of religion in many of her works as she has written a majority of her stories “in the depth[s] of her Christian faith” (419). Having a strong Catholic background, O’Connor displays aspects of religious symbolism combined with her fascination of “grotesque incidents and characters” (420). In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Connor embodies the theme of religious symbolism through the setting as well as the main characters of her work, the Grandmother and The Misfit, as a glimpse of hope in a gruesome, sinister story.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men - Symbolism

    473 Words  | 1 Pages

    The central element of this novella is its symbolism. This novella has plenty of symbolical forms, such as people, creed, and some of the animals. Candy has several terms of symbolism, for example his disability is a symbol of the migrant workers who are just literally forgotten about, they are forgotten when they are no use to the owners. Candy’s dog is a symbol of a life only for advantage to others Lennie also for shadows this, he is belittled of his mind but enormously commented for his strength. Also he is compelled to lie about the fight he had with Curley, this is a symbol of typical male society in the, “Depression era”.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Tough Guise 2

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jackson Katz is the founder of Mentors in Violence Prevention which is an education program that has been focused on military and sporting organizations in attempts to put a halt on gender violence. Other than being an educator, Katz is also an author and filmmaker. In 2013, he produced the film Tough Guise 2. In this film, Katz reviews the normalization of male jurisdiction in America. The film looks at the messages of gun violence, sexism, and bullying that are sent to men throughout their entire life. Tough Guise 2 argues the statement that male brutality is a rooted back to our cultural standards of manhood. A pivotal point of the film is that a male’s masculinity is not just handed to them, it must be earned. During the course of the film, this point is supported by examples such as gun violence, homophobic messages and mass shootings.

    Read More

  • Allusions In Invisible Man

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    allows the reader to know that Invisible Man is the protagonist right away. The comment

    Read More

  • Symbols, Symbolism, and Allusions in The Stranger (The Outsider)

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    because the author is saying that you need to repent and ask for forgiveness to

    Read More

  • Symbolism in A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

    1953 Words  | 4 Pages

    in "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" Flannery O' Connor uses symbolism to give more meaning to her short story. O'Connor writes a story of a Grandmother versus a Misfit, or good versus evil. This short story is about a family going to Florida, who takes a turn down a dirt road, which only causes them to get in an accident, and be found by the Misfit. This encounter prevented them from ever arriving Florida, because the Misfit ends their lives. Using symbolism, O'Connor creates a story with much meaning to the Grandmother, nature, sky, woods, their surroundings, roads, and cars to portray the constant battle between good and evil.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor is a short story that depicts a family's vacation to Florida that turned into an abysmal tragedy when they met with the Misfit, a convict who escaped from prison. This story is meant to be interpreted as a parable, whereby O'Connor made skilful use of symbolism to bring about messages such as the class-consciousness and the lack of spiritual faith that exist amongst human.

    Read More

  • Use of Symbolism In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ralph Ellison uses several symbols to emphasize the narrator’s attempt to escape from stereotypes and his theme of racial inequalities in his novel, Invisible Man. In particular, the symbolism of the cast-iron is one that haunts the narrator throughout the book. Ellison’s character discovers a small, cast-iron bank that implies the derogatory stereotypes of a black man in society at the time. From its “wide-mouthed, red-lipped, and very black” features, to its suggestion of a black man entertaining for trivial rewards, this ignites anger in Ellison’s narrator. The cast-iron bank represents the continuous struggle with the power of stereotypes, which is a significant theme throughout the novel.1 The bank plays a significant role in the book by aiding to the author’s message of stereotypes, the narrator’s search for an individual identity, and his languished desire for equality.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Nipple Jesus By Nick Hornby

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story begins with Dave telling the reader a little about himself and his old job as a bouncer at a nightclub. He appears to be your average 40-year-old; he talks about providing for his family, playing with his kids, drinking with his buddies, and watching Fraiser. However, throughout the story, the reader gets a more and more in depth look into the mind of Dave.

    Read More

More about Symbolism In The Man Who Was Almost A Man

Open Document