Symbols in the Man Who Was Almost a Man

Symbols in Richard Wright's "The Man Who Was Almost a Man"

How authors portray character development is often as much of an art for as fiction writing itself. Especially within the brief context of the short story, character development is often compacted into a combination of narrative cues and underlying symbolism that allows the reader to infer whether or not the characters are developing in any sort of positive way, or if they are stagnating in a static position. Richard Wright uses symbolism in his work "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" in order to convey the lack of development in the protagonist Dave; although he tries so desperately to gain respect as a man, he fails miserably, and remains in a stunted position of immature adolescence.

When dealing with short stories, the task of character development becomes a complicated...
[ View Full Essay]