The modernists really can be depressing.
There were really no redeeming characters in Richard Wright's "The Man Who Was Almost a Man." Dave was naive and proud, his mother was wishy-washy, the store-owner wasn't interesting, neither Dave's father or Jim Hawkins had a chance in the story to show their characters. If Dave was almost a man, who is a man? Where are Dave's role models?
In short, I didn't like any of the characters. The people I was most curious about were the other men Dave worked with in the field. Were they anything like Dave thought? What is it about the work-place that can bring out so much competition and bad feelings? I too have held resentment for co-workers, both during high school and now. I've cried for really hating the way I was treated. (Crying, I think, is a safer approach to dealing with such issues than manipulating people and playing with guns.) This story makes me want to be aware of how I treat people who come into work after me, when I become the "old hand," whenever that starts happening.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Liberty-- you have put into words the thoughts that I have been trying to identify. There was something about the title that bothered me, and I have now realized what it is: There are no real men in the story! Thanks for helping me pick that out :)
I have a certain affinity for modernism. There's a damn depressedness to it, but that's what I like about it. It's real. It's not pretty. It feels like life and somehow is still an escape.
I completely agree about the characters in "The Man Who Was Almost A Man", especially about the main character. Dave was just a whiney kid who was set on blaming everything on everyone else and never taking responsibility for his own actions. Had he done that, accepted the consequences and learned from them, it would be a different story completely. As it was, he simply ran away from the problems he created without sparing a thought to what he'd leave behind for others to deal with.
Post a Comment