Dave believes if he has a gun it will make him a man. The gun in this story is an obvious phallic symbol. It represents manhood, strength, and power, as it does in our society today. Boys often see getting a gun as their first step into adulthood. It takes maturity to be able to own and use one responsibly. It would be crazy to give a child a gun and expect him not to kill himself or someone else. When the day comes that a boy finally gets this status symbol, he is elated, and feels very powerful. Assuming he is ready to control this kind of power, it can be a good self-esteem builder.

In the story, Dave irrefutably is not ready to own a gun. It is obvious by his reaction to having it in his hand. “Could kill a man with a gun like this. Kill anybody, black or white. And if he were holding his gun in his hand, nobody could run over him; they would have to respect him.” (W

When Dave accidentally shoots the mule, he panics. Interestingly, the mule symbolizes true manhood; responsibility (Man 1). The way he tries to fill the hole with dirt shows his childish mentality. After the mule dies, he racks his brain thinking of lies to tell. These actions show that he is immature, but they also show how badly he wants to be a man. Surely if everybody found out how the mule really died, they would think he was just some dumb kid who made a dumb mistake. If that happened, he would never be thought of as a grown-up.

Convinced once more that he was a man, Dave passes Jim Hawkins’ house and wishes he could take a shot at it. “Lawd, ef Ah had just one mo bullet Ah’d taka shot at tha house. Ah’d like t scare ol man Hawkins jusa little.... Jusa enough t let im know Dave Saunders is a man.” (Wright 282). Dave’s ego had been butchered earlier that day, and now with his renewed pride he wanted to prove himself to Hawkins. How dare he laugh at Dave like that? He felt that Hawkins should know, like everyone else, that Dave was, in fact, a man.

It is very hard for Dave to “find himself” because of the environment he lives in. His parents treat him like a beast of burden instead of the growing boy that he is. He works long hours, gets paid little, and has a minuscule amount of downtime. All these things to him, and to the reader, suggest manhood; so why is he treated like such a child? This could be either because he is slow, or

Some topics in this essay:
Dave Dave, Probably Dave, Illinois Central, Jim Hawkins’, Dave Saunders, Richard Wright’s, Dave Hawkins, Convinced Dave, fire gun, gain respect, gun gun, dave dave, gun hand,