The Man Who Was Almost a Man Study Guide

In the mid-1930s Richard Wright drafted an early version of ‘‘The Man Who Was Almost a Man’’ as a chapter in a novel about the childhood and adolescence of a black boxer entitled Tarbaby’s Dawn. Wright never finished the novel, but in 1940 the story appeared in Harper’s Bazaar under the title ‘‘Almos’ a Man.’’

In this period Wright was at the height of his powers, publishing his three major works, Uncle Tom’s Children, Native Son, and Black Boy between 1938 and 1945. With Native Son he became the first African-American author to write a bestseller and gained an international reputation for his exploration of racial issues and bold, realistic style.

The final version of ‘‘The Man Who Was Almost a Man’’ was not published until 1960—the year of Wright’s death—in a collection of short stories entitled Eight Men. While it is sometimes compared unfavorably to his early fiction, many critics praised the collection for offering a sensitive look at racial oppression.

‘‘The Man Who Was Almost a Man’’ chronicles the story of Dave, a young, African-American farm laborer struggling to assert his identity in the restrictive racist atmosphere of the rural South. Longing for a symbol of power and masculinity, Dave fantasizes that owning a gun will win him the respect he craves. After he gets a gun, he learns that he needs more than a gun to earn respect.

The Man Who Was Almost a Man Summary

The story opens as Dave, the seventeen-year-old protagonist, heads home from a day working in the fields. He fantasizes about buying a gun and knows that if he had a gun his fellow workers would no longer treat him like a boy.

He goes into the local store and asks to look at catalogues. The proprietor, Joe, questions him about what he wants to buy and shows him an old pistol he wants to sell. Dave is excited that Joe is only asking two dollars for the gun and resolves to convince his mother to let him buy it.

He brings home the catalogue and looks at it during dinner. His parents question him about it but he waits until after dinner. When his father has left the room, he asks his mother for the money he has been saving.

Dave’s mother first dismisses Dave’s request, calling him a fool; but when Dave suggests that he could buy the gun for his father, she reconsiders. She gives him the money and tells him to bring the gun straight to her. He buys the gun, but doesn’t go home right... » Complete The Man Who Was Almost a Man Summary