The Man Who Was Almost a Man Summary

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“The Man Who Was Almost a Man” by Richard Wright is about a young boy named Dave who wants to be taken seriously by everyone and be treated like an adult. One day, Dave decides that the best way to become a man is to buy a gun. So he goes down to Mr. Joe’s store to ask for his catalog to take home and pick one out and learns that Mr. Joe has a left hand wheeler pistol that he’ll sell to him for two dollars. Dave is thrilled but he would have to ask his mother for some money out of his pay because every time ol man Hawkins pays Dave the money goes directly to her. Later on that night Dave struggles getting his mother to agree on buying him gun but then she decides Dave can go buy the gun but they will give it to his father. As soon as she placed it in his hand, he jetted out the door that night to claim his prize. The next morning Dave just couldn’t resist himself, he got up early and headed straight to Jim Hawkins’ plantation with the gun. Hawkins saw him and thought he was there to work earlier making him hitch Jenny the mule to a plow and head to the fields. After doing two rows and he and Jenny were far enough from earshot, he pulled out the gun and decided it was time to shoot. The gun was heavy in his hands and felt lose in his grip when he fired the gun wobbled. Jenny started thrashing wildly in the field. He went to calm her and saw wet red running down her leg; he shot her in the ribs. Eventually Jenny was lying in a pool of her blood dead. Dave immediately buried the gun at the foot of a tree and tried to come up with a logical explanation. Mr. Hawkins and a couple of men buried the mule with the excuse that the point of the plow stuck Jenny and she bleed out. Dave’s mother and father showed up and asked what happened. He tried to lie but his mother knew the truth. People started to crowd at the commotion. Dave finally owned up to shooting Jenny but said he
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