I guess I have something for coming of age stories because "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" by Richard Wright was another story that I really enjoyed this semester. When I was younger, I always looked up to my Dad and wanted to be a man just like him. I would follow behind him while he mowed the lawn pushing my toy lawn mower and when he went to weed eat the grass I would flip over my plastic nine-iron and cut the grass behind him with a buzzing noise from my mouth. I can relate to the main character in this story because I wanted so badly to be grown up that I would do anything to get there. Ironically, I now wish I could go back to the simple times of being a little kid. A time when a piece of string could entertain me for hours.
I like the ending of this story because Dave makes the normal choice but not the expected choice. While that may sound confusing, my point is that in most stories that I have read the main character seems to eventually settle on the "right" answer. In The Man Who Was Almost a Man however, Dave chooses to run from his responsibilities after shooting Jenny the mule.
This was another one of those stories that was true to actual life and not dolled up or anything. Those seem to be the kind of stories that I enjoy most in this class. Stories that I can relate to on a personal level and that don't seem too farfetched to have actually happened.
I really liked your point about the normal vs right decision. It would have been very "right" of him to go back to his responsibilities but instead he ran off and did something the reader did not expect. I like these kinds of stories that go against normality.
ReplyDeleteFantastic point. I'd never considered the fact that Dave's decision stands in contrast to the ones made by most of the other characters we've read about, but is the one made most often in real life. While I've critiqued the story as well and bashed Dave for failing to step up to his responsibilities, I truly can't say if I'd be able to own up to what I'd done.
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