There are many struggles that a man faces throughout life. The journey to manhood is one of the hardest. In a comparison and contrast of "The Sky Is Gray", by Ernest Gaines and " The Man Who Was Almost A Man", by Richard Wright we experience the hardships two adolescents face on the road to manhood. Through their differences and similarities with maturity, family structure, and socio-economic status you will see which character succeeds in becoming a man.
Growing is an essential function of life. Sometimes people mature faster than others. For instance, in the story of "The Sky Is Gray", the character James is an eight-year-old boy who has to provide for his family. He does not get a chance to go and play like other kids his age. He has to be at home and help take care of his family. James thought more about his mother than himself. He wanted to buy his mother a red coat and did not think twice about the coat that he was wearing. Also James had a lot of goals for himself. In the dentist office he was very impressed by the boy sitting reading a book. The boy was a college student that was dressed very nice, and spoke his mind and was not afraid of to do so. James admired the student so much that he wanted to be just like him. On the other hand, in the story " The Man Who Was Almost A Man", the character Dave does not handle things half the way James does. Dave is a seventeen-year-old boy who is very selfish. He really did not have many goals for himself. His only goal was to buy a gun because he thought that buying a gun would make him a man. He was too immature to realize that a gun does not help him become a man. But, there are certain morals and values that your parents should educate you in in order for you to go out into the world.
Family values are very important because a lot of time what you are taught at home shows in your day-to-day actions. James mother was very strict on him. She was the only one that worked and his father was off at war.
