The Man Who Was Almost A Man Analysis

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We all grow up and mature at some point in time of our life. Some of us realize that it’s time to change the way we act and present our selves sooner than others. Through the process of “maturing” we go through a series of events that shape who we will turn out to be as people. We make mistakes and learn from them the first time around or sometimes we have to make the same mistake multiple times to learn from our past. In the two stories, “The Man Who was Almost a Man” by Wright and Shepherd “Lost at C” by Shepherd we have two separate characters who are trying to showtheir own sense of independence and identity as they attempt to mature. In “Lost at C” shepherd appears to mature at some point in the story, opposed to Wright who even at the end of the story appeared to have not fully identified himself and can still be considered immature. Shepherd had a better environment around him in order for him to be able to mature quicker than Wright. Such as his classmates, who …show more content…
To prove he is a mature “man” he believes buying a gun will help those who mess with him and think otherwise of him being a man. As a child would do, Dave begged his mother and nagged her to buy him the gun (Wright 1698). Although Dave worked, he didn’t have his own money, he isn’t “mature” enough to hold his own. In contrast to the story “Lost at C” there is no motive for Dave to act like a man. He is treated as a child and acts like one in return. Shepherd had his father think positively of him and he was afraid that if he figured out he really didn’t understand the material; he would be disappointed in him so he took it into his own hands. Dave gets the gun and instead of obeying the deal he made with his mom to give the gun to his dad, he keeps it for himself. He sets out early the next morning and goes to work. As he gets to work he accidentally shoots the horse Jenny. He kills the horse and takes no responsibility in doing