The Man Who Was Almost a Man

This writing from Richard Wright had many lessons one could learn from. I could pick up on the theme of a disrespected black man being down all those years and now he thinks the way to respect and power was to own a gun. With a gun, a life can be taken, there is strength in a weapon. Yet the young man learns, to soon, a responsibility comes with a gun and that includes taken responsibility for your actions and the consequences of your actions.

It seemed just as the black man was rising his self-esteem, fate would have it-- a mistake makes him the laughing stock of town! Is this not the same in our culture today? You can have many stars of success hanging over your head, but folks only notice those stars the "fall!"

As I read the story, there were also a few object lessons that I thought about.

David, the young 17 yr old, would not be in this dilemma if he would have only listen to this mother. We hear it all the time--"mom knows best." Yet we still find our self in a culture where everyone goes against mom's advice and wonders what happened..

If David would have never bought the gun, he would be alright. If David would not have kept begging his mother after she refused, he would be alright. If David would have obeyed his mom in placing the gun in safe storage, he still would have the gun and the respect he was trying to earn.

How many times do we need to be reminded wisdom and age usually supersedes the advice we try to drum up for ourselves.

There have been many times in my life, I have looked back and said, "if I had only listened to my mom!" I never thought I would be saying that but now I have a family, I can see plainly what my mom was talking about when she would give advice.

Even know this story is from the early 1960's, it reminded me to well of the youth in our generation today. David wanted the gun, he wanted to be a man, yet he didn't want to take responsibility for his actions caused by being a "man." He also ended up running away from his problems.

Working in law enforcement, I see this day in and day out. Kids want to be grown up, yet when arrested for drinking and driving, they never want to claim responsibility for their stupidity. They run away and run to a lawyer, like they have done nothing wrong!

Dave took a two dollar investment and turned it into a $48 dollar loss! Why? Because he wanted to be a "Man" without waiting and gaining the wisdom of a "Man" that would have come over time.