The Man Who Was Almost a Man

Dave’s father is the household’s male figure who also works at Hawkins’s plantation. He is described as strict and at times violent toward Dave. He is a patriarchal figure who maintains control and discipline in the house, and Dave often feels nervous under his gaze. He represents a different type of emasculation, as he cannot function as a male model for Dave because he has internalized and accepted his oppression, the overall condition of racial discrimination, and Hawkins’s authority.

In his first interaction with Dave, Mr. Saunders makes sure that he is a disciplined worker on Hawkins’s plantation. His instruction to Dave “keep yo mind on whut yuh doin” (15) signals that according to him, Dave is expected to follow his father’s way of life. When Dave accidentally kills Hawkins’s mule, his father chastises him and urges him to tell the truth, focusing on maintaining good relations with Hawkins. This effort is one-sided, as Hawkins seems to take pleasure in saddling Mr. Saunders with an unfair debt in exchange for the dead mule. Finally, Bob Saunders threatens to beat Dave and demands that he return the gun and give the money to Hawkins. His behavior exacerbates Dave’s identity crisis as he does not defend his son and bends to Hawkins’s will.

Bob Saunders represents a static character, a patriarch who has limited authority and can only exert control over his wife and sons. He is, like Dave, controlled by Hawkins, but he has no intention to resist his circumstances. His threats to beat Dave contribute to Dave’s final decision to escape, as he recalls “other beatings” and resolves to not tolerate the humiliation anymore (25). Bob Saunders represents a subordinate Black worker, a male model that also represses Dave and sets him off to discover a new form of African American identity.

Dave’s mother is a domestic female figure and the one with whom Dave feels comfortable enough to express his desire to buy a gun. Like her husband, she is a static character. In contrast to him, though, Dave’s mother cares more about Dave’s education than his performance as a plantation worker, even though she also beats him sometimes. When Dave complains that he has been working all summer with no real reward, she responds to him like his father: “[t]has whut yuh spose t do!” (17). This suggests that she has also internalized the oppressive condition of Black workers. She scorns David’s wishes for the gun, knowing that he will “git in trouble” (17).

Mrs. Saunders, however, is conscious of the racial violence that dominates their lives and the particular dangers that Black men in the South face. This is clear when she tells Dave that he can buy a gun because his father might need it. At the same time, her character reveals the patriarchal structures within Black working-class families. She accepts her husband’s authority and, at times, violent behavior and remains limited to the domestic environment.

Her control over Dave’s money, although she uses it to buy his school clothes, shows his lack of independence. Dave feels that his mother does not protect him when, after he kills the mule, she reveals that he had bought a gun, forcing him to confess that he shot the mule in front of his father and Hawkins. Ultimately, David resents her behavior and he also feels mistreated by her.

Jim Hawkins, the plantation owner who employs several black workers, represents white supremacy in the form of a white male authority who exerts control over the Black community. Hawkins exemplifies the model of male power that oppresses Dave, rooted in implicit violence and explicit economic dominance. He is not concerned about Dave’s carrying a gun the way Mr. Saunders is, because he has no reason to fear physical violence; the state and white cultural monopoly on force in the Jim Crow South ensure his safety. Rather, he exploits the situation to exert further economic control over Dave’s family. He appears to reassure Dave’s father that he “needn’t worry about it” (24) and asks that he pay him “two dollars a month” (24) while Dave will still be working for free. He normalizes the situation, establishing his social class status and control over the Black workers.

Hawkins is also characterized by his social class. He is a landowner, and his “big white house” (26) represents the white supremacy and social power that oppress Dave and the other Black laborers. Hawkins’s house, with its political and social allusions, is Dave’s adversary at the end of the story. His wish to shoot it and “scare ol man Hawkins jusa little” signals his desire to disrupt Hawkins’s power and prove that he is also a man (26). Ultimately, Hawkins is the story’s antagonist and is a static character, representing the entrenched power of white supremacy in the Jim Crow South.