Finn Mcelroy Ms. NeSmith English 11 Honors 27 August 2024 Summer Reading Literary Analysis In “Almos’ a Man”, Richard Wright introduces us to Dave, a 17 year old boy who is getting bullied and believes that he deserves respect. Dave thinks that acquiring a gun means that he will be able to assert himself as a real man, and everyone else will stop bullying him. Growing up in poverty meant that Dave could only see guns in magazines that glorified them, skewing his view of firearms and manlihood as a whole. Richard Wright explains, with the use of characterization and conflict, that because of his environment and naivete, Dave feels as though he needs a revolver in order to be a man. Wright cleverly uses characterization to show Dave’s lack of education and conflict to …show more content…
Overall, Wright uses Dave’s speech to indirectly tell us about how he is uneducated because of his poverty, as well as using a conflict with his mother to emphasize their family’s impoverishment. Dave’s thought process is that of a naive little boy, which greatly affects how he acts and what he says. Wright shows us this through characterization by showing us Dave’s internal thoughts. One of the very first examples of this is when Wright shows us Dave thinking, “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” (38). In Dave's mind, the only way to gain respect is to have a gun and “practice shooting”, proving that he does not understand that respect is earned (38). Wright does not mean that Dave wants to go into the field and shoot some targets, instead, he really means that Dave desires to shoot a person. He doesn’t understand the consequences for such actions though, as in the same sentence he goes on to talk about how “they couldn't talk to him as though he were a little boy” anymore if he does so