Almos’ a Man

In the mid-1930s Richard Wright drafted an early version of ‘‘The Man Who Was Almost a Man’’ as a chapter in a novel about the childhood and adolescence of a black boxer entitled Tarbaby’s Dawn. Wright never finished the novel, but in 1940 the story appeared in Harper’s Bazaar under the title ‘‘Almos’ a Man.’’ in a collection of short stories entitled Eight Men.

a sensitive look at racial oppression.

The first African-American author to write a bestseller and gained an international reputation for his exploration of racial issues and bold, realistic style.

‘‘The Man Who Was Almost a Man’’ chronicles the story of Dave, a young, African-American farm laborer struggling to assert his identity in the restrictive racist atmosphere of the rural South. Longing for a symbol of power and masculinity, Dave fantasizes that owning a gun will win him the respect he craves. After he gets a gun, he learns that he needs more than a gun to earn respect.

Richard Wright is noted for his trapped heroes

Ends with bittersweet images of the heroes moving vaguely North