1．目的及意义

Richard Wright(September 4, 1908 – November 28, 1960) is an American author of sometimes controversial novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature is concerned with racial themes, especially related to the plight of African Americans who suffered from racial discrimination in the South and North in the course of the late 19th to mid-20th century. It is believed that his works including Black Boy, The Man Who Was Almost a Man have helped alter race relations in the United States in the mid-20th century. Racial discrimination has been a touchy issue in American history and society. A number of celebrities including the politicians, such as Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln have devoted their endeavors to improving the black people’s oppressive situations. Some authors who present the blacks’ hardship and suffering try to appeal to more people to concern the blacks with their gifted words.

The Man Who Was Almost a Man written by Richard Wright is one of the typical works concerning racial discrimination. The story centers on Dave Saunders, a young African American farm worker’s struggling to obtain his identity under the background of racial discrimination the the rural South. About the short story, the scholars both at home and abroad have researched from different perspectives. For instance, some scholars have carried on the research about the theme of the initiation in the story with the application of the theory of initiation based on the analysis of the protagonist Dave Saunders’ experiences and the process of his growth such as the paper On the Initiation Theme in Richard Wright’s the Man Who Was Almost a Man (Liu Zhen, 2012). Besides, some scholars also have studied racism in the work through the analysis of the functions of the application of Black English Vernacular such as Dong Ling of Guangxi Normal University for Nationalities expounded in her paper Strategy: Black English Vernacular in Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man (Dong, 2010). A few scholars expose the dilemma of the Black American by revealing the rebellion of the protagonist based on the study of some important images of the work, such as, the gun, the white house and the mule named Jenny as the article the Symbolism in Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man ( Yu Zongyan, 2017). In addition, the research on onlooker effect also attracts readers’ attention, for instance, Lu Beibei’s the Comparison of Onlooker effect between LuXun’s literary works and Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man (Liu, 2016).

After having learned from the perspectives mentioned above, the paper tries to explore the struggle and growth of the young black man, Dave against the background of racial discrimination through several questions, which is aimed at discussing the possibility of the individual’s obtaining identity over the shadow of discrimination. What’s more, the paper makes an attempt to provide a perspective for the readers to comprehend the effect exerted by racial discrimination against the black people, which helps the readers pour their attention into the growth psychology of the young black from boyhood to manhood and understand the rebellion after years of oppression both including the physical body and psychology.
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2. 研究的基本内容与方案

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The paper will conduct a comprehensive plot summary of the short story and perform a detailed analysis of the protagonist’s psychology from boyhood to manhood. The analysis will be based on the discussion of the protagonist’s growing background including the fact of racial discrimination during the late 19th to mid-20th century and his family background. Besides, the discussion about literature concerning racial themes will be taken into consideration especially the difference about racism between The Man Who Was Almost a Man and Richard Wright’s other works. What’s more, the paper will pay special attention to the psychology of the protagonist, for example, why does the main character want to claim his own social identity through the possession of a gun? What are the effects of the attitudes that his parents adopt on Dave? Accordingly, what is his response to his parents’ attitude especially after the accident that Dave shoots the mule, Jenny to death taking place. Additionally, the analysis of the figures’ character traits is necessary, including Dave, Dave’s parents, Fat Joe, Jim Hawkins, Jenny and the onlookers. All the intrinsic factors and extrinsic ones will be used as tools to analyse the protagonist’s psychology change and struggle to obtain identity and respect.

3. 参考文献
[1]Ellen W. amp; Michel F. Richard Wright Reader [M]. New York: Harper amp; Row, Publishers. 1978.
[2]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Was_Almost_a_Man#cite_ref-
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