The economic conditions of the time made it hard for black men to earn respect. Dave’s black tenant family works for a white landowner, Mr. Hawkins. At first glance, it appears that Mr. Hawkins is a fairly nice fellow; however, when Dave inexplicably arrives early for work, Mr. Hawkins does not commend him but gives him more work to do. In a way, that is what you would do with a beast of burden that exhibited extra energy and willingness to work. The author suggests that "a man oughta hava little gun aftah he done work

ed hard all day" (886). Wright clearly develops the gun as a masculine, sexual symbol which will substitute for Dave’s and his father's appropriated "manhood," which is a metaphor for economic security and self-sufficiency. When the story opens, Dave walks from the fields to the general store, traditionally the site of exploitation for tenant farmers and sharecroppers, both black and white. He asks Joe, the white store manager, if he can borrow the Sears catalogue, the symbol of Hawkins's control over the commodities available to his tenants. Joe hands over the catalogue and confirms that Dave's "manhood" has been appropriated by the exploitative economic system when he tells Dave, "If you wanna buy a gun, why don't you buy one from me? I gotta gun to sell" (886). After supper, Dave offers his mother an opportunity to retrieve the family phallus with the open catalogue in his palms, Dave approaches his mother, raises the book, and says, "Ma, Gawd knows Ah wans one of these" (889). His mother resists, but ultimately acquiesces when Dave reminds her that without a gun, her husband also feels emasculated. She hands Dave the cash and says, "Lawd knows yuh don need no gun. But yer pa does" (889).With these words said, Dave now has his mother’s approval and money to purchase a gun.

Finally, Dave’s manhood is thwarted by the inequality of race, class, and gender. When Dave does get a gun, he uses it irresponsibly. He carelessly shoots

Some topics in this essay:
Richard Wright, Gawd Ah, Jim Hawkins', Dave Dave, Finally Dave’s, Road Manhood, race class, class gender, race class gender, inequality race, exploitative economic, desire gun, inequality race class, economic conditions, white house,