A Part of Growing Up

From a child to a boy, from a boy to a man, the transition is a unique experience to remember. The transition from boy to manhood results from making choices and living with the consequences that ensue. The transition from boy to manhood, constantly referred to as “coming of age” presents itself in the short stories “A & P” by John Updike and “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” by Richard Wright. In these two short stories, the central theme revolves around the main character’s coming of age and the consequences resulting from good and sometimes poor decisions. The thought processes of the main characters and the maturation that comes from the experience they have changes them from a boy to a man. Both Updike and Wright use this as the central theme of both short stories, but plot development that leads up to the central theme differ drastically.
In the short story “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” by Richard Wright, the plot centers around Dave, a seventeen year old slave who wishes to be treated like a man. The title of the story alludes to what takes place in the story. Dave is almost a man, but in the eyes of everyone around him, he is far from being accepted in society as a man. Dave’s motives and the main theme of the story present itself early in the story. Dave, in his current mindset, thinks that “one of these days, he was going to get a gun and practice shooting, then they can’t talk to him as though he were a little boy” (Wright 1609). At the early stages, Wright gives insight to the plot of the story, the plot that will develop the central theme. Dave believes that he is a man and that a gun will justify this thought. However, this thought process is flawed from many points of view. Dave is only seventeen and even then, some would hardly consider that as a “man” or even close to it. Dave’s belief that a gun will make him a man is further reinforced when Joe doubts Dave, telling Dave that he “ain’t nothing but a boy” and that he “don’t need a gun” (1610). This forces Dave to further believe that he absolutely needs a gun in order to gain the recognition that he is a man.
Early in the story, Wright establishes the plot behind the story’s central theme. Dave embarks upon his quest to obtain a gun and command the respect from all his peers to recognize that he is a man. From Dave’s point of view, he deserves to be treated and recognized as a man. However, from the reader’s standpoint, Dave is anything but a man. His immature notions that a gun will provide him with manhood is typical of a boy who has yet to realize what being a man really constitutes. Dave’s mother sees that her son “ain got no sense” (1612), alluding to the fact that Dave does not think clearly nor does he see what he is asking for. In his mind, Dave has already made up his mind that the only way for him to be recognized and treated as a man is if he owns a gun. This gun becomes the center of his want and his ultimate trophy. Any opposition that Dave faces only feeds his need for the gun.
Dave’s mother understands that one way or another, Dave will find a way to buy a gun, so she tries to alleviate this urge by allowing him to buy a gun but giving reason that it would be for his father. She tells Dave to buy the gun from Joe and bring it right back to her. Instead, Dave keeps the gun for himself after buying it. Ignoring his mother’s command, Dave “avoids surrendering the pistol by not coming into the house until after everyone was sleeping” (1613). During the middle of the night, Dave’s mother demands that Dave hand over the gun, but Dave lies, telling her that the gun was hidden outdoors. Dave is intent on keeping the gun for himself and refuses to surrender the gun to his mother. He feels that giving up the gun is equivalent to giving up his quest for manhood. Dave finally has a chance to fire the gun in the open field, and in doing so, he accidentally shoots Jenny, Mr. Hawkin’s mule. When his mother and the crowd of people confront Dave about Jenny’s death, Dave “looked at Jenny’s stiff legs and began to cry” (1615). Instead of accepting responsibility for Jenny’s death, Dave gives the excuse that he did not intentionally shoot Jenny and cries as he tries to avoid the attention from the crowd. All along, he wants to be treated like a man, like a responsible grown-up. His actions define him as anything but a man.
Dave does not understand that the gun does not make a boy a man, but responsibility and mature decision making is what really defines a man as a man. In the end, Dave abandons his family in search of another place to start over, a place where he will be recognized as a man. He takes the gun with him on his new journey, but from all this, the theme of coming of age and living with the consequences of one’s own decisions presents itself. Dave’s intent was to be recognized and respected as a man and not a boy. His decisions and actions throughout the story and at the end of the story show that now understands the responsibility that comes with being a man. He understands that he must start over in a new place to be accepted as a man.
The coming of age theme along with facing the consequences of one’s decisions also presents itself in the short story “A & P” by John Updike. Like “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” Updike also uses plot to express the central theme of the story. However, Updike takes a different approach in conveying this theme compared to Wright. The short story “A & P” revolves around Sammy, a checkout clerk at the A & P store. The story starts off in the store where Sammy works. Sammy gives off the impression that he is bored and ready for a change. The emphasis of the story begins when “three girls walk in with nothing but bathing suits” (1492). Sammy does not pay attention to his customer that he is helping the moment the three girls walk in. He “cannot remember if he rang up the box of HiHo crackers or not, and when he rang it up again, the customer starts giving him hell” (1492). He does not give any attention to the customer but as soon as the three girls walk in with bathing suits, they catch his attention almost immediately. Sammy does not pay attention to anything that goes on in the store, but once the trio of girls walks in, Sammy scrutinizes them immediately.
Sammy focuses his attention on the trio of girls and describes them with the utmost scrutiny. The first girl Sammy notices “had on a bright green two-piece and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale” (1493). The second girl “had one of those chubby-berry faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose” (1493) and the last girl, the queen, had on “long white primadonna legs” (1493). Instead of paying attention to his customers, Sammy focuses his attention on the three girls, examining them like a typical teenage boy. Herein lays the central theme of this story. Sammy is a bored checkout clerk who tries to turn his mundane job into something interesting by referring to the shoppers as “sheep who push their carts down the aisle” (1493). At first, these seem irrelevant to the central theme, but it is from these events in which Updike conveys the theme of the story.
Towards the end of the story, the manager, Lengel, comes out to confront the three girls. He comes over to the girls and tells them “Girls, this isn’t the beach” (1495) not once but twice, emphasizing his distaste for their attire. Sammy sees that the girls are embarrassed in front of many customers and makes an impulse decision. In light of Lengel’s words, Sammy decides to quit his job in front of all the customers and Lengel. He announces it loudly and quickly, “hoping they’ll stop and watch me, their unsuspected hero” (1496). Sammy hopes that the three girls will hear his reaction and think that he is their hero because he stood up for them. Sammy does not realize the irrationality of his actions, even though at the moment, he truly believes it was the noble thing to do. His noble gesture is nothing more than a futile attempt to impress the three girls. To his surprise, the girls are gone and nowhere in sight. Lengel sees Sammy’s impulse decision, and tells him “I don’t think you know what you’re saying” (1496) but in response to this, Sammy thinks to himself “once you begin a gesture, it’s fatal not to go through with it” (1694). When he exits the store, Sammy realizes the extent of his actions.
The girls are no longer there and now, he has to deal with the choice he makes. Sammy understands the consequences of his actions, knowing “how hard the world was going to be to him hereafter” (1497). Up until the end of the story, Sammy shows traits of a young teenager who does not understand what it means to make correct judgment and decisions. His immaturity leads to him quitting his job just to impress some girls who he does not even know. The irrational decision making is characteristic of young people who do not think about the consequences of their actions. At the end, Sammy realizes this, knowing that he will have to accept the consequences and move on instead of going back into the store to try to get his job back. At this point of the story, Sammy has matured and become a man, living up to the consequences of his own actions.
Both Updike and Wright use the central theme of coming of age in their short stories. The way they go about developing this theme, however, is different. Wright almost explicitly defines the plot and what will take place in order for Dave to become a man. Wright begins the story with statements that Dave wants to be accepted as a man and nothing else. Updike, however, uses a more subtle approach. He uses the plot to develop Sammy’s character, showing the reader that Sammy is a bored teenager who makes irrational decisions. This defines his character as young, impulsive, and child-like. At the end of the two stories, both Dave and Sammy arrive at the epiphany that they must now face the consequences of their actions. Dave wants to be treated like a man throughout the story and here at the end, he receives his chance to. Sammy, however, inadvertently stumbles upon this. He has no intentions of trying to become a man, but the choice he makes puts him in a position to mature into an adult. Both stories use the theme of coming of age and the reality of facing the consequences of one’s actions.
“A & P” and “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” focuses on the central theme of coming of age and the ability to face the consequences of one’s actions. The two authors use the plot of the story to develop the central theme but go about it in two different manners. Updike, in “A & P” goes about it in a subtle manner, allowing Sammy to stumble across the elements of manhood. Wright, in “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” makes it evident from the beginning of the story. Dave’s quest for acceptance as a man reflects from the beginning to the end of the story. Both stories develop the central theme from plot.