Survival in The Hammer ManA young girl "a deviant family" living in "a deviant neighborhood" is the first-person narrator and protagonist of The Hammer Man by Toni Cade Bambara. The story takes place during a period of time in which the girl supposedly gains new maturity, sensitivity, and intuition as she develops from a tomboy to a young woman. The focus of the tale is his fight with a neighborhood antagonist as he describes the events of about a year. At first he speaks very self-centeredly and then, recounting his last encounter with this rival, he reveals greater empathy and understanding. The girl, who is not named in the story, is actually a tough street brat who enjoys picking on the mentally disabled Manny. Manny is a challenge to her because “he says you were crazy. . .you weren't officially supposed to make fun of yourself” (paragraph 2) and she never does what she's officially told. When Manny tries to get revenge, she pretends to be sick to avoid him. Rather than face the consequences of her actions alone, she unrepentantly watches others fight her battles for her. Miss Rose argues with Manny's mother and her father argues with Manny's older brother. He accepts it as due. Her only regret, at this moment, is that "she was content to beat up little girls in the schoolyard" (paragraph 3). They are not crazy and would not chase her, forcing her into a self-imposed illness that keeps her isolated. Therefore, the growth and development of the girl in the story is influenced by Manny. She is the unaware and unacknowledged catalyst that triggers change and sets this girl's maturation in motion. Crazy Manny is also a product of the same deviant neighborhood. Hello...... middle of the paper...... and he returns to his egocentrism. However it is a start. And even though her thoughts for Manny are ultimately less than nothing, she is changing. She doesn't realize, even to herself, how he has influenced this change. Manny, we are told, has become "a kind of big house for people who lose their minds" (para. 33). How different the ending of this story might have been if the cops had admired his skill, or if he had had a mentor to guide him and develop his skills as an athlete, or if he had been given the opportunity to use his hammer like a tool instead of a weapon. The story is primarily about this tough narrator's growth and survival in a hostile environment, but it is also a sad story of how society fails those who, like Manny, are least capable of coping. Story reprinted in St. Martin's Guide to Writing, 4th edition, 1994: 390-394.