Throughout the short story “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”, Dave struggled to find his manhood, but it seems as that he had the wrong idea of what it took to actually become a man because of his poor decisions.
Many people have heard that having a gun makes you a man, so Dave believes that purchasing a gun would help him become one. The gun represents power, masculinity, independence, and respect, which are all things that Dave wants. The idea of owning a gun is David’s outlet, a way to quickly become more powerful and manly. The feeling of having a gun in his possession was to prevent others around him from looking at him as just a little boy. With the gun, Dave felt invincible, as if no harm could come his way and as if he is on top of the
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Responsibility is a huge characteristic for an adult, and he was handling his responsibilities by working for Mr. Hawkins. Once David has the gun, he become very irresponsible by lying to his mother and shoot Mr. Hawkins 's mule. The death of the mule limits Dave, because now he has to work to pay off the mule. At the end of the short story Dave jumps on a train and leaves the country town and leaves his responsibilities behind. Dave seems to be moving backwards instead of forward with becoming a man because a man would handle his responsibilities instead of running away from them so that is where the title comes in. Dave was almost a man because he was working and handling responsibilities, but after he purchases the gun he kills the mule he has to work to pay for it and instead he runs away. He was becoming a man but he ran away and now is only a boy. Since he ran away from his responsibilities by jumping on the train, he will now have to grow up a lot faster than he expected. The title expressed how the only thing or person that was preventing Dave from becoming an actually man was himself. He lacks a lot of maturity in this story so it results in bad judgement and many poor choices, which shows that Dave has a lot to learn on his own
Discovering Dave was about a slave in the 1800s with an unbelievable gift. The story tells about a Dave Drake a slave who used he’s skill as a craftsman to create beautiful pots. Dave was a great craftsman he created many pots and poetry during his time. This documentary tells Dave’s story how he left his mark on history.
In the essay, “The High Cost of Manliness,” writer Robert Jensen discusses the harmful effects of having male specific characteristics, such as masculinity. Jensen realizes that men’s actions and ways of living are judged based upon the characteristic of being manly. He argues that there is no valid reason to have characteristics associated with being male. Society has created the notion that masculinity is the characteristic that defines males as males.
In the article “A peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carriers a Gun,” the author Linda M. Hasselstrom has a credible argument for carrying a gun. Hasselstrom has a solid ethical appeal and her argument had logic based on her many dangerous personal experiences. Although her article is credible, she uses many fallacies to make it seem that if women have a gun they can protect themselves from men.
Dave still continues to behave as a child throughout the short story. “Dave’s attempt to get money from his mother to buy the gun reveal that he in fact is still a child; he whines wheedles and beg, and his mother responds as if he were a child.’(Loftis 439) When presenting the idea of owning a gun to the man who owns it Dave was given a response such as this: “You ain’t nothing but a boy. You don’t need a gun.”(Wright 900) Members of the community do not find Dave mature enough to own a weapon such as this. He has not exerted any actions or characteristics that members of the community find fitting for a man. Dave has only seemed ,as seen in the text, to exert behavior of a child. In both scenarios of Dave obtaining the gun and killing the Jenny with the gun; Dave wanted to hide his actions and lie about what he has done. When presented with opportunities to act as adult and prove maturity Dave goes astray and acts as if he were a child instead of the young man he would like to be seen
"Being Prepared in Suburbia" is an essay by Roger Verhulst published in 1992. The purpose of this essay is to show how guns can change a person's mind and emotions. Throughout the essay, Verhulst shares personal examples of his beliefs of gun ownership and personal examples of how his life changed once he bought a Crossman Power Master 760 BB Repeater pump gun. After purchasing the gun, he believed that the reason people like guns so much is because of a passion that gun owners feel. He stated, "This is the feeling that explains their passion, their religious fervor, their refusal to yield. It's rooted in the gut, not in the head" (Verhulst 342). He also realized that personal thoughts and morals about gun ownership change for a gun owner, and, in a sense, how the gun has authority over an individual's life. For example, "But a roving opossum that took up residence in our garage for a few cold nights in January undermined my good intentions" (Verhulst 341). Honestly, those are only excuses and not legitimate reasons. A strong person would not go against his or her beliefs and would know that using a gun should only be for a specific and valid purpose. Throughout the essay, he believes the weak gun legislation and the problems with gun usage are because of a passion that you feel in your gut; in reality, it is a lack of self-control.
He still faces many problems when trying to get the gun due to the fact that he was treated like a kid and that he acted like a kid. When he went to the store Joe, the sales guy, even treated him like a kid. Joe knew that Dave’s mom kept Dave’s money, because he wasn't responsible enough to hold his own money. The fact that Dave’s mom held on to the money that he worked for shows that he is still just a kid who needs his mom's permission; so therefore, his mom is a force holding him back from becoming a man. Even though Joe said he was a kid he still offered him a gun for a two bucks, so Dave goes back to his house to try a get money for the gun. He waited till he was alone with his mom because he was afraid of his dad, which also shows that his father is another force that prevents him from becoming a man. Dave had to argue with his mother a little bit before she finally agreed, but
Dave Saunders was the man that was almost a man. Dave knew he wasn’t seen as the most masculine boy and he strived for the title of being a man. But what did being a man mean to Dave? For him, it meant having a gun. “a man oughta have a little gun aftah he done hard worked all day.” (Wright 294) because Dave has it stuck in his head, that to be a man he needs a gun, he won’t stop until he gets one.
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.
“I don’t believe people should be able to own guns. (Obama)” This said prior to Obama’s presidency, in the 1990’s, is still a topic that is constantly questioned today. Many American’s feel the need to seek ownership of weapons as a source of protection; While others believe that private ownership of guns will do nothing more but heighten the rate of violence due to people taking matters into his or her own hands. Philosophy professor Jeff McMahan agrees with Obama’s statement in regard to the ownership of guns. In his New York Times editorial titled “When Gun ‘Control’ Is Not Enough,” McMahan provides evidence to support his theory of the dangers that quickly follow when allowing the community to own guns legally. McMahan, throughout the text, shows responsible reasoning and allows the reader the opportunity to obtain full understanding and justifies his beliefs properly.
“The Other Wes Moore” By Wes Moore, reveals how two men can develop differently in the same social environment, and yet and have different intrapersonal views. The two men grew up in the same impoverished city, yet both have different experiences and views of what it means to be a man. The other Wes Moore, living his whole life in a poverty-stricken society, believes that being a man means to be powerful and unforgiving. The author, Wes Moore, living in two different worlds, views himself as a man when he becomes an exceptional leader and responsible for others lives. These concepts both tie into the constructs of masculinity in the United States where men are supposed to be protectors of society. The two Wes’ notions of manhood derive from
In the article “Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun” Linda M. Hasselstrom, explains a series of events that prompt her to an important decision. It was a decision that changed her life. Hasselstrom is a respected writer who has written several books on based on personal, life experiences. In this particular article she gives examples of events that have occurred to her that forced her take a decision of carrying a gun. She explains that throughout her 10 recent years there were varies occasions where she saw herself in a dangerous situation. During those 10 years she constantly experienced situations where she saw she needed protection, and a simple self defense class wasn’t going to help. She became aware of her surroundings and eventually had experience on what to do in those types of dangerous situations. Although carrying a gun for her was something she needed when it came to protection, she also had to learn that it was a huge responsibility.
In 1997 Sarah Thompson, a retired physician, informed adults and families on the effects of gun control in American Gun Review. She believes it is not a good idea to enforce laws that restrict gun control and everyone should be able to carry a gun, as long as we use it carefully. In her article, Thompson uses real life examples of crimes such as murders, rapes, and theft to support her view on gun control and as of result of eliminating these restrictions, there would be a decline on criminal rates. However, her article is not fully effective as she fails to include people’s views that do not approve of guns; had an unbalance use of ethos, pathos, and logos in addition to not citing her arguments.
A major problem among the gun society is that the accessibility of guns has become very easy to obtain. In New Mexico, a 12 year old boy, brought a shotgun to school and shot two of his classmates (Johnson). One may ask how a 12 year old gets a hold of a shotgun. Simple, his family enjoys hunting, so he had access to the gun (Milligan). ...
The story begins with Dave telling the reader a little about himself and his old job as a bouncer at a nightclub. He appears to be your average 40-year-old; he talks about providing for his family, playing with his kids, drinking with his buddies, and watching Fraiser. However, throughout the story, the reader gets a more and more in depth look into the mind of Dave.
Hasselstrom. In this essay the author, a pacifist, explains why she feels the need to carry a gun. She begins by describing her line of work as a freelance writer and the isolated area she lives in. She then goes on to recall events from the past years where she has felt threaten or unsafe. One such incident was a camping trip she took with her friend where fellow campers made them feel uncomfortable. Another event was that of a woman who had car troubles, she called for help but reached a rapist who assaulted her. The author continues to recall more personal incidents such as being followed by men who harassed her on a narrow bridge, another man with a shotgun who made her realize how isolated her ranch was, and one evening when a light was on in her home. These events prompted her to learn Kung Fu, yet she still felt unsafe and decided on carrying a gun. Despite being hesitant at first to carry a gun it has proven to be the best deterrent when faced with a threatening situation, simply showing the gun has been enough to protect