Becoming a man requires strength and dignity, courage and fearlessness. As a little boy, some would convince adults that they were a big boy or a man to prove that they can accomplish tasks on their own. This whole idea changes when the adult asks the younger one if they 're being a man. In the book The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, sixteen year old Bobby struggles throughout his ambiguous first days of fatherhood of fatherhood, a homeless individual consistently asks if he is being a man. Bobby shows the ones around him that he has definitely become a strong, responsible man through symbols like his basketball rolling away, the fact that he is taking accelerated classes to finish school, and how Bobby decides to allay his parents and Nia 's parents by taking on the onus of raising his child. …show more content…
There are old toys that were popular during their own childhood, and the sports that were competitively played among family and friends. These such objects bring back meaningful memories to the mind that can activate and release the inner child. Bobby has demonstrated his inner adult by the symbol of the basketball rolling away from him as he tended to Feather 's needs. This symbolizes Bobby 's maturity level because when analyzed, his childhood was wrapped around jazz music and basketball, ultimately resulting in that being a part of him that brings the levels of maturity back to a younger level, but when the ball rolls away, it could mean that his childlike ways are escaping his grasp and presence. This is only one of the three examples that prove that Bobby has come of