Which excerpt from wright's "the man who was almost a man" best supports the inference that dave and his father do not have a close relationship? "he did not want to mention money before his father." "he glanced up, feeling sudden guilt. his father was watching him." "his father caught his shoulders and shook him till his teeth rattled." "the crowd parted and dave's mother, father, and small brother pushed into the center."

The correct answer is A.

In Wright's "The Man Who Was Almost a Man," a seventeen year old, wants to buy a gun to get the respect he feels he deserves and to show that he is no longer a child.

However, when he has to ask money to buy the gun, he decides to ask his mother instead of his father because he knows his father will immediately say no.

This reflects that Dave and his father do not have a close relationship since Dave doesn't feel that his father would listen to him and consider his request.

as for symbolic actions, the narrator's tearing down the wallpaper in an attempt to find the "woman" in the wallpaper represents her struggle to retain or regain her sanity.   the wallpaper has been part of her confinement and by her tearing it down, she is freeing herself from that confinement.