In the story “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” by Richard Wright and “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, both stories share a theme, Which means both stories make the same point in their own ways. “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” tells the story of Dave Saunders, a seventeen-year-old boy who longs to be through of as a man. One way to prove his manhood, he feels, is to buy a gun. And in “The Things They Carried” the author writes about the items that were carried out by the soldiers while in Vietnam War and how they want to appear brave. The search for false bravery is the major theme that is share in Richard Wright’s and Tim O’Brien’s novel.
In “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” the search for false bravery is the major theme. This theme is illustrated throughout the story by Richard Wright. In the story Dave struggles with the feeling that he has no power and he is not brave. He works at a place called Hawkins’ who’s owned by white people. Dave does all the manual work and he is not treated fairly at his job because of his color. While at home he is still treated like a boy and he lacks economic power because his mother controls what he…show more content… In this story the soldiers want to appear brave in front of their friends, but only because they don’t want to be look foolish. The author illustrated the theme through the characters in the story. Like Tim wishes to be truly brave but he is not and only goes to war because he does not want to be called a coward, or like curt lemon who wants to make sure his friends know he is brave so he pulled out his tooth just to prove he is brave. On the other hand Strunk and Jensen think it is better to die than getting seriously injured and their life in a wheelchair, but when Strunk lose his leg, he is scared, and all he wants to live. The suggestion is that they are not really brave, but they are confused about what bravery
