Assignment task:
Read the attached short story in which Richard Wright exposes the differences between being black and being white in rural America. Do you see stereotypes in it? Are the parents typical? The immaturity of the boy, is that stereotypical of black boys? Just black boys--or boys, period? Setting and the race of the characters are important components in Richard Wright's poignant tale. Dave and his family are black: therefore, their poverty is extreme enough to add special complications to bother the acquisition of the gun and the magnitude of the disaster when the mule is accidentally killed. The outlay of two dollars for the gun means that the tight economic discipline by which they live has to be breached; the prospect of having to pay fifty dollars for the dead mule means an enormous handicap for an adolescent black farm laborer. The rural setting conditions the operative values of all the characters, white and black; for example, the significance of possessing a gun is both more innocent and imperative for a farm boy than it might be for an urban youth.
285 The Man Who was Almost a Man STORY.docx
I have no idea what my teacher wants me to do with this. Can someone explain it to me?