John Updike’s A P, Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was...

John Updike’s â€Å"A P,† Richard Wright’s â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man,† and James Joyce’s â€Å"Araby† Stories about youth and the transition from that stage of life into adulthood form a very solidly populated segment of literature. In three such stories, John Updike’s â€Å"A P,† Richard Wright’s â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man,† and James Joyce’s â€Å"Araby†, young men face their transitions into adulthood. Each of these boys faces a different element of youth that requires a fundamental shift in their attitudes. Sammy, in â€Å"AP†, must make a moral decision about his associations with adult institutions that mistreat others. Dave, in â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man,† struggles with the idea that what defines a man is physical power. The narrator of†¦show more content†¦Sammy, however, surprises us, just like the story does. His immediate infatuation with the girls and everything they represented (the youth he was quickly denying himself by being tied at such a young age to the very adult world of work) quic kly brought him to realize that his life was still that of a young person. What he thinks is an act of bravery, which will certainly be awarded with the attentions of â€Å"Queenie†, turns out to be a solo act of personal assertion. Just when Sammie thinks his life is ending, it is truly just beginning. Richard Wright’s story, â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man†, is also a story of a youthful ignorance of the actual complexities of the world. To Dave, the main character of the story, getting a gun will make all the difference in his becoming a man, musing â€Å"Shucks, a man oughta hava little gun aftah he done worked hard all day†¦.†(923) Just as the youth of the girls in AP, are the central symbol of that story, the gun is the central literary symbol of Wright’s. With a gun in his hand, Dave is convinced that his fears will disappear, that he will become powerful and honored. Just as Updike demonstrates with Sammy, Wright shows us that Dave is both naà ¯ve and misguided. From the first, Dave demonstrates his childishness in his very strategy to get the gun. He speculates, sounding quite immature, that his mother will give him a gun. He is subsequently childish in his handling, or mishandling, of the old revolver. As heShow MoreRelatedANALIZ T EXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesresolved is one within the protagonist’s psyche or personality. External conflict may reflect a basic opposition between man and nature (such as in Jack London’s famous short story â€Å"To Build a Fire† or Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea†) or between man and society (as in Richard Wright’s â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man†). It may also take the form of an opposition between man and man (between the protagonist and a human adversary, the antagonist), as, for example, in most detective fiction. Internal