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"The Man Who Was Almost a Man" also known as "Almos' a man", is a short story by Richard Wright. It was published in 1961 as part of Wright's compilation ''Eight Men''. The story centers on Dave, a young African-American farm worker who is struggling to declare his identity in the atmosphere of the rural South. ==Plot Summary== The story begins with the protagonist Dave Sanders walking home from work, irritated with the way he has been treated. Dave works for a farmer on a plantation and as he walks across the fields he begins thinking of ways that will prove to the other workers that he is a grown up. He decides that the perfect way to prove that he is a grown up is to purchase a gun so instead of going home he goes over to a local store to have a look at the guns in a Sears Roebuck catalog. When he enters into the store Dave encounters the owner fat Joe. Dave requests the catalog leading Joe to ask him if he is planning on buying something. Dave responds with a “yessuh,” so Joe then inquires whether or not Dave’s ma is letting him have his own money now to which Dave responds with a “()hucks. Mistah Joe, Ahm gittin t be a man like anybody else,”! Joe asks what exactly it is Dave is planning on buying; a question Dave is reluctant to answer unless Joe promises not to say anything. Joe promises and Dave tells him he’s looking to purchase a gun, Joe states that Dave “ain’t nothing but a boy,” and that he does not need a gun, but if he’s going to buy one he might as well buy it from him and not from some catalog. Joe offers to sell Dave a left-hand Wheeler, fully loaded and in working order for only two dollars if he can get the money from his ma. With his excitement and interest aroused, Dave leaves the store vowing to come back for the gun later. When he gets home his mother awaits him, irritated because he has kept supper waiting. Dave sits down at the table with the borrowed catalog until his mother takes it from him, threatening to make it outhouse material if he does not get up and wash. After explaining that it was not his she gives it back to him only to have him fumble through it all throughout dinner. Dave was so infatuated with the catalog that he did not even notice his food was in front of him, or that his father had spoken to him. He determines that if he was going to get the pistol that he had better ask his mother for the money and not his father because his father would instantaneously say no, whereas his mother might be a little easier to persuade. Upon the completion of supper Dave finally builds up enough tenacity to approach his mother with his inquiry. He starts the conversation by asking if his boss, Mr. Hawkins, had paid her for the work he had accomplished on the plantation. His mother responds that she has received the money but that it was to be saved in order to buy clothes for the winter. Dave presents to her his proposition and she responds by saying, “()it outta here! Don yuh talk t me bout no gun! Yuh a fool!" Dave persuades her by stating that the family needs a gun and that if he bought it he would surrender it to his father. Despite her better judgment, Mrs. Saunders agrees to give Dave the two dollars he needs as long as he promises that as soon as the pistol is in his possession he will bring it straight home and turn it over to her. Dave runs out the door with the money and purchases the pistol from Joe. On his way home he stops in the fields to play with the gun, only he is unsure of how to use it so he just points and pretends to be shooting imaginary objects. When he arrives at his house he breaks his promise and does not surrender the gun, instead he hides it under his pillow and when his mother comes to retrieve it he claims to have hidden it outside. Dave wakes and with the gun in his hands thinks to himself that he now has the power to “kill anybody, black or white.” He ties the pistol to his leg with a piece of flannel and leaves the house early so he can go unnoticed and not have to give up the gun. Dave arrives at work early so Mr. Hawkins tells him to hook up Jenny, the mule, and go plow the fields located near the woods. Dave is delighted with the request because it meant he would be so far away from everyone else that he could practice his shooting and no one would hear. When he gets out to the woods Dave plows two rows then takes his gun out to show Jenny, he waves the gun around then closes his eyes and take his first shot. The gun flies back in Dave’s hand and scares away the mule. When he catches up to her he realizes that Jenny has been shot and he tries repeatedly to plug the hole with handfuls of “damp black earth.” Jenny eventually dies a slow crimson death. By sunset Jenny’s body is found and Dave is questioned by both his parents and Mr. Hawkins about what happened. Dave lies about the incident stating that something was wrong with Jenny causing her to fall on the point of the plow. His mother knows this is a lie and insist Dave tell the truth. In tears Dave confesses, but lies yet again when asked what he has done with the gun. Mr. Hawkins tells Dave that although it was an accident he will pay two dollars a month until he has paid fifty dollars to replace the mule. That night Dave feels annoyed at having to pay back Mr. Hawkins for the next two years, and even more annoyed with the fact that people view him as a child more now than ever before. He decides to leave his house and retrieve the gun in which he had buried, not thrown in a river like he claimed. He forces himself to fire the gun with his eyes open until he empties it. In the distance Dave hears a train so he approaches it and hops on thinking that this will at last prove he is indeed a man! 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Man Who Was Almost a Man」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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