World Literature

The main character in the story “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” is Dave Saunders. Dave Saunders is trapped in a world that strips him of his personal and economic power. Dave sees his life as being treated like a child and having no power or respect. Dave struggles with wanting to be an adult and wanting people to respect him. In this essay I will talk about the character of Dave Saunders and what I think his purpose is in the story.

Dave Saunders is the typical teenager seeking maturity and independence he is not ready for. He can imagine the benefits of adulthood but doesn’t understand the obligations that come with more freedom of choice. Searching for a quick way to become a man, he focuses on the guns for sale in Mr. Joe’s catalogue, falsely believing that raw power will automatically win him the respect he desires. His fantasies highlight his fixation with physical strength and misperception that the power to kill brings the power to control. Impatient, Dave tries to initiate his own rite of passage into manhood without making any of the sacrifices that come with adulthood. Owning a gun would make him independent. He feels that he will be provided with greater opportunities if he owns a gun. He has this feeling despite not having handled a gun ever before nor even having fired one. He fantasizes about shooting at Mr. Hawkins’s house. This feeling portrays that he had learned nothing about Jenny’s death. The death just made him long for power, masculinity, and independence. He proves this when he says that the gun can kill everybody despite the color and believes that when he is in possession of a gun, he would gain the respect he needs. Despite trying to be a man, Dave repeatedly proves to us through his actions that he is still a child. We realize this as he begs his mother to give him the money to buy a gun, which he is advised to give his father but he declines.

When Dave finally talked his mother into giving him the money for the gun he was ecstatic. He...