F1. In Richard Wright’s “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”, the gun symbolizes a few different things for the character of Dave. It symbolizes the achievement of power or control, independence, and masculinity. Although in reality, it symbolizes his struggle and failure to achieve what he truly wants to achieve. “Dave felt he wasn’t a man without a gun,” on his way home from work he attempts to find a way to prove to everyone that he is no longer a child or simply a boy, feeling that the ownership of a gun would be the only proof he needs of his masculinity. The possession of the gun gives Dave a feeling as if he has finally acquired masculinity and respect, giving him a newfound sense of independence. With the gun Dave feels invincible like he has the power to do anything and no one will be able to question his motives or status as a man. In the scene in which Dave murders Jenny, Dave shows his true immaturity and lack of control by his use of the weapon. He does have higher power with the use of the gun but foolishly misuses that power. Killing an animal on a hunting trip is a rite of passage for a boy, yet
Dave’s kill was a result of him “sneaking his gun along with him into the field he is supposed to plow for his boss,”. He is still very much a child. His misuse of the gun and the killing of the mule are proof that he still has the mind of a child. The gun was supposed to have made him a real man but in reality it shows his struggle to be a man. The gun represents power, masculinity, respect, and independence: everything that Dave desperately seeks and wants. He sees the gun as the solution to all his problems and a way to cover all the weaknesses he knows he still possesses. Dave resents the fact that the other ...
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...rator an angry person because he does not understand the role it plays in Sonny’s life. Sonny cannot verbally communicate that jazz music gives him happiness and hope, becoming the only positive aspect of his life. It gives him a safe escape that drugs never could. The musicians he connects with become a second family to Sonny. Even though jazz music is alien and uncommunicable to the narrator, it gives Sonny happiness. In the end of the story, jazz music functions as a form of communication for the two brothers. When the narrator goes to see his brother play jazz music, he finally understands the part of him that he was never able to understand before. Sonny can finally let his brother know a different part of him, a part of him that gives him joy. His brother can finally understand and appreciate the wonder of being a musician that keeps his brother alive.
To start, guns and violence have a strong impact on Manny’s life, which basically begins with his father. In one instance, Manny is babysitting his younger sister, Pedi. She proves hard to entertain once she realizes their sister, Magda, has mysteriously disappeared, and the rest of the family is elsewhere. While Pedi sleeps, Manny becomes curious as to why his father loves his gun so much, since he has lied to keep the illegal weapon and had gotten arrested for it. As Manny examines the rifle, Pedi wakes up and searches the house for her brother. When Manny sees her, the gun fires accidently, and Manny thinks, “Pedi was dead, I knew it. The way she fell back on the floor, she could only be dead...thinking I’d see a gory dash where the bullet hit her head” (Page 100). Suddenly, Pedi starts crying, and Manny places the gun where it originally has sat and soothes his startled sister. Later, Manny cannot get the incident out of his head and finds the bullet in the cooler. His curiosity about the gun probably comes from the fact that his father, who has a lea...
Liam O’Flaherty’s realistic fiction story, “The Sniper” takes place in Dublin, Ireland during a civil war. In the story the Republican Sniper is assigned a dangerous, life or death mission. On the parapet of a roof he sits still, with his rifle by his side and a job of killing his enemy on the other side of the street. After achieving his goal the Sniper realizes what he has done. When he checks to see who he has killed, it is his brother. In this critical part of the story, the author shows the theme of, actions have consequences, while also using 2 crafts moves such as description and foreshadow.
To summarize, the use of emotion, credibility and reasoning by Sally Thomas clearly and successfully argues that a boy is rough by nature and not violent given a war toy. The sequential use of reasoning, range of authority, and use of emotions in the article made the readers get into the character of a boy and truly understand the points Thomas was making. It is important to study the true cause and effects of violence on boys and act accordingly for fair and peaceful society. Thomas writes the article in order to make the readers realize the true fact behind the violence of boys so maybe people might make the right decision against the roughness.
At a young age Dave had to learn how to play games with his mother as a sort of survival tactic to stay alive in his household.
The gun is the personification of the owner. In reality, the gun does not roam the woods, hunt doe, or protect its master. Without a human using it, a gun simply sits lifelessly on a shelf. It's the man who roams the woods, hunts doe, and protects himself with the gun. The poem makes it sound as if man and gun are a team. By first person person plural pronouns such as, “We roam,” “We Hunt,” “Our good Day,” in the poem makes it clear that the gun and owner share their life, spending time and doing everything together. It says that the “Owner passed” the ...
He wanted to keep the gun because he wanted to own something that made him feel like a man because he worked all the time and made wages just like any other man.... ... middle of paper ... ... The situation between Dave and Mr. Hawkins illustrates how he could not be a man because Hawkins was basically making him a slave for the next two years. Dave jumping on the train going someplace else illustrates his hopes of leaving his poor, miserable life in hopes of a new, better life where he can be a man.
...n his brother’s life the theme in Sonny’s Blues would’ve have been altered. Overall, what was vital to the narrator, in this time of turmoil and frustration, was to nurture the relationship with his brother Sonny, not only because of the love he had for him but also for the obligation he had as a brother and the commitment he had toward his mother.
boy is one of the latters. He’s going to be into everything!” (264). Here we get an insight into his personality. He may not just be a thoughtless killer. He may actually act the way he does because he has thought about things rather seriously, challenging religious beliefs and whether he should follow them or not.
Actually that came from another characteristic of a western, the conflict between settlers and Indians, after being raised with the Indians for three years he had killed several settlers. Then after he had left the Indians side to join the white mans army he killed many more Indians, that's how he had crafted his skills as a gunman and survivalist. It even is shown in the story that he has been killing for years, when he kills the first two Indians, he has a fast and accurate shooting style. Also he has the background to know were others may be hiding such as in a bush, or
Sonny’s Blues is first-person narration by the elder brother of the musician struggling with heroin addiction and issues with law. However, on closer inspection it appears that Sonny’s unnamed brother is also very troubled. His difficulties cannot easily be perceived and recognized especially by the character himself. The story gives accounts of the problems Sonny’s brother has with taking responsibility, understanding and respecting his younger brother’s lifestyle.
With the narrator having a responsibility to take care of his brother, he consistently forces the fact that he wants his brother to be well off and not care about his passion in music. The older they got, the more they drove away from each other because of the fact the narrator becomes overly protective with Sonny, and uses a “tough love” strategy though it does not making any positive effect. After they took some time apart, they both realized they cannot emotionally make it in this world without one
When first reading “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, it may initially seem that the relationship between musicians and drugs is synonymous. Public opinion suggests that musicians and drugs go hand and hand. The possibility lies that Sonny’s passion for jazz music is the underlying reason for his drug use, or even the world of jazz music itself brought drugs into Sonny’s life. The last statement is what the narrator believes to be true. However, by delving deeper and examining the theme of music in the story, it is nothing but beneficial for Sonny and the other figures involved. Sonny’s drug use and his music are completely free of one another. Sonny views his jazz playing as a ray of light to lead him away from the dim and dismal future that Harlem has to offer.
makes him appear very wise and we can see that the boy is once again
This issue becomes a conflict for the two siblings that grows tension among each other. Sonny expresses to the narrator that he wants to become a jazz musician. For example, the narrator explains, “It seemed- beneath him, somehow. I had never thought about it before, had never been force to, but I suppose I had always putt jazz musicians in a class with what Daddy called “good-time people” (pg. 86). In my opinion I think the narrator feels appalled that his brother wants to become a jazz musician because he thinks of them as people who hang around clubs and clown around. Both siblings don’t see eye to eye, the narrator sees it as Sonny wasting his time and Sonny sees it as being his career. The exposition of the narrator finding his younger brother in a newspaper resulted on reconnecting their relationship. Also, the conflict of the two siblings was their argument of not seeing the same
kill his parents. From then he never hunted again. This had changed his life forever. After