The Man Who was Almost a Man. BOOM.

Ok, wow, the Mark Twain impersonation of writing here (Huckleberry Finn, anyone?)  was a wee bit hard to ready, anyone else agree?

After the initial challenge of reading through the deep southern context and attempting to understand this young man's thought patterns, I must say I really enjoyed this piece. It was interesting to see how he identified manhood with violence or power. It was this correlation that ultimately leads to his demise, an interesting analogy for the truth behind the statement itself.

With the gun, he not only see's himself as a man, but as a viable member of his family. This balance between violence, power, and prominence is intriguing in terms of a male stereotype. The first proof of this happens with his mother. She is easily swayed to give him the money thinking this would please her husband to have a gun at his disposal. It's interesting to see the break in the writing with the allusion that she gave in and gave him the money rather than just narrating that part. It's also key to note that he doesn't mention his father or brother until he has already decided to buy the gun. Is this some sort of underlying theme which motivates him?

With the actually murder of Jenny the mule we see a shift in his character, yet not necessarily in the view one would think it would be. He was still selfishly caught up in his desires for manhood that he worries more about the consequences coming to him rather than the death of the animal itself. Maybe this was meant to show how violence is a state of mind, not just an action.

The finale of this tale comes somewhat abruptly. He uncovers the gun and decides to set out on the world. It's interesting to say that he was almost a man this whole time, yet all of his actions, motivations, and thoughts were purely manly if we define a man by his ability to seek and obtain power, carry out violence, and be deceptive enough to get away with it. While it may be purely coincidental that this was the story we are to read before the 15th of February, I still find it interesting to see this heartless tale on Valentine's day. Thank you Professor Williams. Mules may not be my favorite animal yet the death of Jenny was still upsetting on this day of "love."

I feel as if we all go through this want to be an adult. To spread our wings and not just fly, but prey, soar, and truly become those which we see as older, wiser, and more powerful. No, we do not all have to go out and convince our mothers for money for guns anymore but we still attempt to break the conventional rules set before us so that we can feel like a respected member of society. I found this piece to be profound and perfect for the day, reminding us that to be a "man" one needs more than just objects, they need the maturity to be responsible and handle the consequences of their actions. Not just pack up and go on the first train out of town.