How does dave account for the accident with the mule

He worked hard in the fields and the money that he earned went to his mother. Dave said to his mother. He felt that since he did the work, then he should get the money, or at least some of it. After killing the mule in an accident, Dave also wanted to regain the respect of his boss and the other townspeople. They tormented him for his immaturity and he wanted badly to change his perception and earn his respect back. All the crowd was laughing now.?

The townspeople were laughing at? Dave right after he accidentally shot the mule. Dave really wanted to be treated like a man but it seemed as if it would never happen. Damn em all Nobody ever gave him anything. All he did was work. They treat me like a mule, n then they beat me.? Dave was not ready for the consequences that he would have to face for shooting the mule.

It was an accident but he had to stand up to it. The author of? Richard Wright, developed a beautiful title for this short story because. Charles Scruggs's chapter in Richard Wright in a Post-Racial Imaginary, for example, points out that "One does not have to search far in Wrights fiction to find the theme of male identity suddenly falling apart" , yet does not mention "The Man Who Was Almost a Man"; Robert Butler begins his discussion of Eight Men by pointing out that the collection "included The Man Who Lived Underground' as well as seven other pieces set in a variety of locations" , though he does go on to list "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" as one of three stories that "have been cited by many scholars as some of Wrights most accomplished fictions" Robert A.

Lee simply says, "'The Man Who Lived Underground' undoubtedly offers the best of Eight Men's stories, yet each of the others invites a similar decipherment. These, notably, include The Man Who Was Almost a Man' as a gun-fable about black manhood in a supremacist white rural Dixie but not without a touch of farce If the story were not in so many anthologies, there would be almost no critical interest, despite the fact that, as Carol Henderson says, "This story ["The Man Who Was Almost a Man"], the first in the collection, sets the framework for the remainder" Given the importance of the story as the beginning of the collection, then, the story is worth more examination.

Those critics who do comment on the story discuss the idea of Dave's masculinity not surprisingly, given the title , almost always tying his masculinity to his purchase of and use of a gun. It is this latter idea, the aspirational one, that Dave believes defines manhood, as he wants all people, regardless of race or gender, to treat him as "a man.

Someone eventually finds Jenny, and a small group gathers around her body. When pressed, Dave lies and says that Jenny had been startled and fell on the point of the plow. Unconvinced, Mrs. Saunders urges him to tell the truth and then quietly asks about the gun when no one else is listening. Crying and realizing that he has to tell the truth, Dave confesses. Saunders is shocked to hear about the pistol and Mrs.

He then tells Mr. When Mr. Saunders asks Dave where he put the gun, however, Dave lies again and says that he threw it into the creek.

Hawkins as his first payment. Unable to sleep that night, Dave skulks out to retrieve the gun. He fires the gun four times until there are no more bullets left. Putting the gun in his pocket, he heads across the field until he comes to Mr. If he had one more bullet, he muses, he would fire at the house to let Mr. Hawkins know that he is really a man.