The Struggle With Personal Identity In Richard Wright's Literature

Finding Oneself

Whether we know it or not we all develop a sense of personal identity throughout our lives. Personal identity is the development of the way you view yourself as well as the way you want others to perceive you over the course of your life. For some people this may be more difficult than others because developing a sense of personal identity can be a lifelong journey whereas for others it can be as simple as getting through a certain situation and then realizing what you’re capable of. Personal identity crises not only occur in real life with everyday people but also in works of literature as well since they depict characters or speakers who struggle with the concept of personal identity. Examples of works of literature that

portray people having difficulties with personal identity issues are Richard Wright’s “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” and Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B”. Although these stories have different storylines and situations they both have something very much in common, which is the depiction of people who struggle with personal identity issues. Wright portrays a character that struggles with the concept of personal identity because he wants to alter other people’s perceptions of him, which ultimately results in the destruction of their impressions of him. Whereas, Hughes depicts a speaker that struggles with the concept of personal identity because he hasn’t developed a sense of self-perception and, as a result, lacks the capability to define himself as a person.
Wright depicts the character of Dave who struggles with the concept of personal identity since he wants to alter other people’s perceptions of him by earning what he believes he is entitled to, which is the right to be respected and treated like a man. While Dave views himself as a man others perceive him as a young, foolish, and childish teenage boy so in order to change their perceptions and gain a full sense of personal identity he desires the right to be respected and therefore treated like a man. Wright shares insight into Dave’s plan to gain the respect he feels he deserves when he mentions “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” (2245-2246). At this point in the story Dave believes everyone views and treats him as a child so he decides that he needs a gun in order to prove that he’s a man that deserves the right to be respected. Dave wants to alter their perceptions by possessing a deadly weapon in order to prove to them that he’s grown into a responsible young man that should be respected and treated like an adult. Dave struggles with the concept of personal identity because he wants to alter the way others perceive him by going on a quest to prove his manliness and earn the right to be respected.
In reality, Dave’s quest to gain a sense of personal identity by altering other people’s perceptions of him ultimately results in the destruction of their impressions of him. Dave’s attempt to earn respect in order to alter other people’s perceptions of him ultimately backfires and destroys the impression he intends to make because he reacts immaturely to the disastrous situation he creates. Wright provides insight into other people’s impressions of Dave when he reveals that “All the crowd was laughing now” and someone in the crowd exclaims “Well, boy, looks like yuh done bought a dead mule! Hahaha!” (2252). At this point in the story the crowd reacts to the discovery that Dave accidentally shot and killed Jenny the mule by laughing at his unsuccessful juvenile attempt to cover up the deed as well as the fact that he has to pay the mule’s owner back. Ironically, Dave’s futile attempt of owning a gun to demonstrate that he’s a man worthy of respect actually reinforces the idea that he’s still a child because he reacts immaturely to the disastrous situation he creates by lying and trying to conceal the fact that he killed the mule. Therefore, he ruins any chance that he may have to alter other people’s perceptions of him since he destroyed the opportunity to make the good impression that he wanted to. Dave struggles with the concept of personal identity because his attempt to alter other people’s perceptions of him ultimately destroys their impressions of him since he failed to own up to his actions like a real man would in order to gain the respect that he sought.
Hughes portrays a speaker that struggles with the concept of personal identity because the speaker hasn’t developed a sense of self-perception and, as a result, lacks the capability to describe himself to others. The speaker hasn’t developed a sense of self-perception because he’s in college for the specific purpose to have the opportunity to reflect and dig deep within himself in order to discover his true inner self. It is evident that the speaker has trouble trying to define himself when he expresses “It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me…. Me – who?” (Hughes 16; 20). At this point in the poem the speaker states that he doesn’t know what is true for him and questions who he is as a person. The speaker has difficulties describing himself to others and is unable to pinpoint what’s true for him since he believes that the experience of attending college will provide him with the opportunity to discover his true inner self. His undeveloped sense of self-perception results in the incapability to define himself because he hasn’t had the chance to learn about and discover his inner being. The speaker struggles with the concept of personal identity because he lacks the capability of defining himself in the English assignment since he hasn’t had the opportunity to reflect and discover his inner self in order to gain a sense of self-perception.
Wright portrays a character that struggles with personal identity issues because he wants to alter other people’s perceptions of him, which ultimately results in the destruction of their impressions of him.

Whereas, Hughes depicts a speaker that struggles with personal identity issues because he hasn’t developed a sense of self-perception and, as a result, lacks the capability to define himself as a person. The character of Dave in Wright’s story struggles with the concept of personal identity because he wants to alter the way others perceive him by going on a quest to prove his manliness and earn the right to be respected. However, Dave’s attempt to alter their perceptions of him ultimately destroys their impressions of him since he failed to own up to his actions like a real man would in order to gain the respect that he sought. The speaker of Hughes’ poem struggles with the concept of personal identity because he lacks the capability to define himself since he hasn’t had the opportunity to reflect and discover his inner self in order to gain a sense of self-perception. Most of the time personal identity issues occur in real life but they also take place in works of literature as well since these stories portray characters or speakers in different scenarios that struggle with the concept of personal identity. There are numerous reasons of how these two stories portray characters or speakers that struggle with the concept of personal identity but this is only one example of the ways they

do.