“The Man Who Was Almost a Man” by Richard Wright is a very interesting reading, because it is written with slangs. It just reminds me of my first time reading stories with slangs. I remember at that time, I tried to look for word meanings in dictionary, because I thought the words were written in old English. Another reason I like this reading because most parts are in conversation.
I feel “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” suggests the living attitude of a teenager who is in the status of adolescent rebellion. Teenagers who under this status would want to try many new things and go against parents’ will. Dave wanted to have a gun, and he requested his mother for money to buy the gun. After a moment of begging, Dave’s mother accepted to buy the gun, but said the gun was for his father. However, Dave did not do what he promised. Instead, he tried to fire the gun and mistakenly killed a mule named Jenny.
Other than the rebellion of Dave, I also feel during that time, people were divided into different classes depend on their property. For example, Dave who was still attending school has to work for the family in order to have enough money to buy school clothing. On the opposite, Dave’s boss, Hawkin, lived in a big white house. When Dave said to his mother that they must have a gun in their house, I feel people who were poor liked Dave’s family might got treated unequally and badly by rich people. Dave had also thought if he had one more bullet, he would shoot at Hawkin’s house. It shows his hate toward Hawkin. Gun is a weapon and it would cause harm; it also is a self- protector and it would avoid one from getting harm.