7-Year-Old Mann Analysis

BANG!

In this heartbreaking novel, a young boy by the name of Mann is having trouble dealing with his younger brother’s death. No matter what Mann does, he can’t seem to get the images of his little brother lying dead on his front porch. To ensure that the only son he has left can fend for himself, Mann’s father goes to extremes to make Mann tough. “Son its time for you to be a man and live up to your name start by being strong minded.”(50)This includes taking up old African Traditions. Even Mann wasn’t expecting something like that to happen. As Mann and his only best friend, KeeLee are left to fend for themselves in the steep woods and in the dangerous “projects”, they endure a ton of hardships which include losing more people that were severely close

The antagonist is Manns dad.Two years after Mann 's seven-year-old brother is killed in a drive-by shooting, the boys ' father decides to teach 13-year-old Man, who narrates, the same lesson received by boys in African tribes. He drives Mann and his best friend, Kee-lee, into the woods and leaves them there to fend for themselves. Wild animals prove to be less of a threat than the people the boys encounter, and once they do return to the city, Mann 's father turns them out again to find out what direction they want to take in life ("You wanna be a pimp—well, there 's a road that 'll lead you there. Wanna be a thief, sell crack and live high and die hard—well, that road 's waiting for you too," says Mann 's father). The method used to induct Mann into a violent world will spark as much controversy among readers as it does among characters in the book, but in the end, Man (who fares better than his friend Kee-lee) does learn some important lessons that go beyond survival. There is a gradual yet notable change in his morality as he searches his soul to find what kind of man he