"The man who was almost a man" speaks of Dave, who had conflicts with gaining recognition and respect, because he was young. He wanted to grow up and become a man. For this he bought a weapon, thinking that it would make him grow as a man. Seeking power, he buys this weapon, to feel powerful, unstoppable. All these conflicts of the dave age led him to make some bad decisions. The story well specifies this when he accidentally shoots a mule, and he cannot sustain the excuse he made up for it, and when he decides to take a train and go to a city where he would be able to man up.
Puns were used by Shakespeare to explain meaning, to make sense of the world around his characters. If a certain scene in his play was a bit confusing, he would often use a pun, which is a play on words, in order to explain what is happening in more detail. His puns were very clever, and many of them are still used today, without people even realizing how old they actually are.
