Robert W. Krepps's Short Story 'Pride Of Seven'

The short story “Pride of Seven” by Robert W. Krepps portrays the theme that a male becomes a man by demonstrating bravery. This short story starts with the narrator moving into the Masai Tribe in Africa, and he meets En-Gerr who is scorned by warriors and girls. The narrator becomes friends with En-Gerr, and soon falls into this deep passion for the lions that lived nearby. En-Gerr decides to follow through to become a man and kill a lion, and heads out in search of a lion in his traditional warrior weapons and clothes. When En-Gerr and El Asfar, the head lion of the pride, come face to face En-Gerr tries to make peace with the lion. In the end, En Gerr succeeded in making peace with the lions and he still receives his manhood. The theme that

a male becomes a man by demonstrating bravery is shown in this short story when En-Gerr stands up to this lion in a completely different way. In the end of the story, after El Asfar sent Black Mane to the rest of the pride, En-gerr and El Asfar stand facing each other while the narrator tells us what happens. The narrator says, “Lifting his weapons in both hands, he cast them down at his feet, first the spear, then the razor sharp sword”(8). This shows courage because En-Gerr disarmed himself in front of a lion that could have eaten him. And instead of launching into a deadly battle with El Asfar, he made peace with all lions. En-Gerr became a man that day, not by killing a lion, but by courageously putting his life at risk to make peace. This theme is also proven in this short story when En-Gerr doesn’t just show bravery through his actions, but through his words. About half way through the story, En-Gerr and the narrator have a conversation about El Asfar. En-Gerr says, “He is the finest lion I have ever seen. None lesser should be my first kill”(4). En-Gerr is willing to take on the strongest lion, and that shows that he has a mountain of courage stacked inside of him. And in the end, he does face this mighty lion, but uses 4 times as much bravery because he disarmed himself. He could have been killed. A male definitely becomes a man after something like that. For a male to become a man, he can’t just cut a lion and call it good, in this story they have to follow through with it and be smart about how they attack. They have to use their brains. Towards the beginning of the story when En-Gerr and the narrator are talking about why En-Gerr has not killed a lion yet, the narrator says the unique phrase, “Is a man’s first lion then less important than his first wife, my friend? Or should he not concentrate his mind on ol-ngatuny for many days, weighing the beast’s worth, and his own readiness, and the method of the slaying?”(4). The narrator is implying that you should think through things and not just jump into action without any thought about it. Especially when it comes to killing a lion. This ties back to the theme because you have to be brave, but you also need to include thought and strategy. To conclude, the short story “Pride of Seven” by Robert W. Krepps proclaims the theme that a male becomes a man by demonstrating bravery.