Modernism is the literary movement that took place, along with cultural and technological innovations, in the late 19th and early 20th century. The characters reject tradition and authority, often in pursuit of what they think is right or what they want. In Richard Wright’s The Man Who was Almost a Man, Dave pursuits his want to be accepted as a man and treated so by his parents and the other workers. He believes that owning a gun will earn him that right, but his idea takes a turn for the worst eliminating all his chances to earn his manhood and respect. And in William Faulkner’s Barn Burning, Abner Snopes commits bad acts toward against authority, in hopes to preserve his honor. One of his actions then backfire causing him to have a pay a fine to de Spain. But feeling wronged, he then prepares to set fire to de Spain’s barn. But his…show more content… Dave is an almost eighteen year old boy who works on a plantation. He is always treated like a boy at work and at home. His mother doesn’t even let him keep the money that he earns from work. He has a difficult time trying to get everyone to see him as a man. He decides that he should buy a gun to earn the respect he deserves from everyone. He lies to his mother to get her to give him the money to buy the gun. He then proceeds to hide the gun from her so she can’t take it from him. The next day, he takes off with gun tied to him to work. When he is off from Mr. Hawkins, he pulls out the gun in hope to practice. He begins to wave the gun around to show it to Jenny, the mule, and winds up shooting and killing her. After being found out he is set with having to pay two dollars a month until he has paid fifty dollars to replace Jenny. Feeling angry for having to pay for the mule he then leaves to retrieve the gun, empties it, and hops on a train with it. He believes that this is his last chance to prove he is a
