The Wife Of His Youth Charles Chesnutt Analysis

871 Words2 Pages

In Charles Chesnutt’s story “The Wife of His Youth,” it illustrates the reality of what individuals of mixed races had to go through in order to fit in with society. From the beginning readers are presented with troubles African American’s had to face through racial division and inequality, along with a correlation between race and color. The main character in this story, Mr. Ryder, is a great representation of how a society can influence one’s beliefs and morals. In order to become apart of the Blue Vein society, Mr. Ryder had to leave his ethnic background behind him, so he could be accepted into a white community. The purpose of the Blue Vein Society, as Chesnutt described it, "was to establish and maintain correct social standards among …show more content…

Ryder’s wife was also a slave, and she went by the name Liza Jane. As Mr. Ryder was adjusting to his new lifestyle, he got involved with a community and committed himself to the Blue Veins. It was said that, “no one was eligible for membership who was not white enough to show blue veins,” (Chesnutt) Throughout this community, “Mr. Ryder's character personifies its values. As Tess Chakkalakal had stated in his article, this story relates the effects of a slave marriage and of an individual committed to erasing his past slave experiences in order to make a future for himself as a free man. There is enough evidence from Chesnutt’s story to back this statement up because as he fled from his life as a slave he changed his name and joined a racial group. In doing so, Mr. Ryder shows who he truly is because by being in this society he develops a new identity because he began looking down upon blacks and their skin tone just because they aren’t white enough to show blue veins, this shows how hypocritical he is. He shows his hypocrisy because he himself was, “a part of an era of slavery based on the color of his skin,” and the Blue Vein Society makes him forget about his old identity, so he ends up neglecting his real …show more content…

Ryder being the dean of the Blue Vein Society, he met many people, but one person really stood out to him and her name was Margaret Dixon. Margaret was a light-skinned young lady who was very high class, charming, and educated. Mr. Ryder fell in love with her the very moment he met her and wanted to prove this to her by planning a ball in her honor, so he could propose to her. Since Margaret had so many great assets about herself, Mr. Ryder thought she would be a great wife for him because she would not only continue to help him grow in society but also help him with his social status. By doing this Mr. Ryder shows his true colors because is signifies his hypocrisy due to the fact that he isn’t only wanting to marry her, so he can benefit, but also because he is still a married man. Mr. Ryder’s wife Liza is anything but acceptable to him and his society, and since he left Liza behind to create a new life it goes to show what kind of man he is. Liza as well as Mr. Ryder has experienced slavery, however she never once tried to cover up her heritage. Instead, she spent the past 25 years working all while trying to find her long-lost husband. The racial inequality is shown very clear when comparing Ryder’s new life and Liza’s, Liza embraced her background while Mr. Ryder was trying to write his off. In doing so, it portrays the inequality and weakness between societies. However, if Mr. Ryder marries Margaret he thinks it will eventually cover up his past. On the other

Show More
Related

  • Post- Emancipation Life in The Wife of His Youth by Charles Chesnutt

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    Post-emancipation life was just as bad for the people of “mixed blood” because they were more black than white, but not accepted by whites. In the story those with mixed blood often grouped together in societies, in hopes to raise their social standards so that there were more opportunities for...

    Read More

  • James Mcbride's Identity In The Color Of Water

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this time, the black community in America was beginning to find their voice and stand up for what they believed in and who they truly were. The problem with James is that he didn’t know who he truly was. He didn’t understand how he could be two different things while all of his siblings identified as one. They instilled a sense of resentment toward whites in him that confused him beyond belief. This confusion left him believing that his mixed race was a curse and something that he would have to carry on his back for the rest of his life. He believed it to be a burden, as he felt that he didn’t truly belong anywhere because of it. "I thought it would be easier if we were just one color, black or white. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. I would have preferred that mommy were black. Now, as a grown man, I feel privileged to have come from two worlds." - James McBride. In his memoir, on of James' main realization about his life is that in the transition from adolescence to adulthood, he learned that being mixed race wasn’t so much a curse as a blessing.

    Read More

  • Hypocrisy In Chestnutt's The Wife Of His Youth

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the story, “The Wife of His Youth,” Chestnutt describes the racial discrimination in America. The author utilizes the primary characters as a gateway to reveal hypocrisy in declaring social equity and identity. Mr. Ryder runs away from his black heritage to become a part in a white society, while his wife from slavery uses her past to assert her faithfulness to her husband. The writer uses Mr. Ryder to reveal hypocrisy in social equity. Sam Taylor was a light skinned slave before the civil war. While his wife was at home cooking, he was always at the field working. During the civil war, he managed to escaped and moved up to north. After being free in north he decided to change his name to Mr. Ryder and joined the group called Blue Veins. Blue

    Read More

  • Moynihan Negro Family

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    Moynihan perceives the inclusive problem amongst the black family to be its structure. This is a product of disintegration of nativism in the black community. The “racist virus” still flowing through the veins of American society hinders, in virtually all aspects, the progression of the Negro family. Moynihan discusses the normativity of the American family as a reason that people overlook the problems that occur in Negro and nonwhite families. He emphasizes the significance of family structure by stating “The family is the basic social unit of American life; it is the basic socializing unit.” (Moynihan, II 4). This assertion implies that due to the instability within the black family, socially, the Negro family would be unable to prosper. Because Moynihan feels the largest overall issue in the black family is structure it’s structure, he believes that it will only continue to disintegrate. To further his idea, Moynihan highlights the subdivisions of this structure: matriarchy, failure of youth, economic differences, alienation etc. Each of these subdivisions of family structure contributes to the overall issue Moynihan within the Negro family.

    Read More

  • Turning Points In Anne Moody's Coming Of Age In Mississippi

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    She leaves behind her family in order to pursue what she believes is the greater good. She leaves behind a family of nine, living in extreme poverty, to live with her biological father—who runs out on her at a young age to satisfy his need to feel big and important, simply based on anxieties about the hardships around him. Moody comes from a highly difficult and stressful situation, but she stands as the only hope for her starving family and leaves them behind for a life of scholarship and opportunity. This memoir leaves the reader with a sense of guilt for Moody’s decisions, and one may even argue that these decisions happened in vain, as the movement never made a massive impact on race relations. Unfortunately for Moody, she would continue to witness atrocious hate crimes up until the year of her

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In The Soul Of Black Folk And The Yellow Wallpaper?

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the twentieth century, people of color and women, suffered from various inequalities. W.E.B. Du Bois’ and Charlotte Perkins Gilman (formerly known as Charlotte Perkins Stetson), mention some of the concepts that illustrate the gender and racial divide during this time. In their books, The Soul of Black Folk and The Yellow Wallpaper, Du Bois’ and Gilman illustrate and explain issues of oppression, dismissal, and duality that are relevant to issues of race and gender.

    Read More

  • The Racial Contract, by Charles W. Mills

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...by Charles W. Mills, the author attempts to provide an explanation for the way that race plays a role in our society, and how it has reached this particular point. Not only does Mills’ work provide some explanation in regards to this matter, but other notable texts and documents connect to his ideas as well, such as Michael Omi and Howard Winant’s, “Racial Formation in the United States,” and the remarks made by Abraham Lincoln in “The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.”

    Read More

  • The Wife of His Youth

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Charles Chestnutt’s “The Wife of His Youth,” Liza Jane is a woman who is determined to find her long lost husband, Sam Taylor. When he ran away from slavery and escaped up north, he left his wife behind. He changed his name to Mr. Ryder, to forget his past with slavery. Soon he became involved with a group called the Blue Veins, which were a group of people who believed in the preservation of light skinned blacks. In this group he was known as the dean. The Blue Vein society thought that dark skinned blacks were dirt and ignorant. Many years went by and Liza still felt that Sam was in love with her and that they would be back together.

    Read More

  • The Lives of Whites and Blacks in the Early Twentieth Century

    1885 Words  | 4 Pages

    The twentieth century was a time of tremendous change that commenced with WWI and the Great Depression. While WWI brought countless deaths, the Great Depression affected both urban and rural Americans. Yet, underlying these devastating events was the abuse of black Americans. Both whites and blacks had to cope with the major occurrences of the time, but blacks also faced strife from whites themselves. During the early part of the twentieth century, white Americans Russell Baker and Mildred Armstrong Kalish gained kindred attributes from their families, especially in comparison to that of Richard Wright, a black American. The key differences between the experience of whites and blacks can be found within the mentality of the family, the extent to which they were influenced by their families in their respective lives, and the shielding from the outside world, or lack thereof, by their families. Through the compelling narrations of these three authors, readers can glimpse into this racially divided world from the perspective of individuals who actually lived through it.

    Read More

  • Richard Wright And Zora Neale Hurston

    1459 Words  | 3 Pages

    One personal conflict Faulkner puts his characters into is the issue to conform into society 's expectations. Some of the main characters in the novel include Joe Christmas, Joanna Burden, and Gail Hightower. Joe Christmas is the novel’s protagonist who struggles with finding self-identity and fitting into society due to his mixed race. Joanna Burden is a northerner whose relatives are actively voting for black rights and who Joanna herself respects them, “They say she is still mixed up with niggers. Visits them when they are sick, like they was white … Folks say she claims that niggers are the same as white folks. That’s why folks don’t never go out there” (Faulkner 44). Caryl Klein quotes Olga Vickery’s crit...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Wife Of His Youth

    1466 Words  | 3 Pages

    The characters are torn between who they are and who they need to be. Racial passing further perpetrates discrimination within American society, especially within the black community. Mr. Ryder’s actions further perpetrates the notion of race as a social and cultural construction. Mr. Ryder does not want to be accepted as black and he must live up to his principle through disassociation with the black culture. Mr. Ryder’s hope for a better future meant erasing his “blackness” and identify with his “whiteness”. Eliza’s narration of her slave life awaken his moral conscious. The path Mr. Ryder wishes to obtain is unrealistic in a post-American society because he cannot erase his past. In a post reconstruction era it was vital to connect in a time of instability. Mr. Ryder’s re-telling of Eliza’s story is connecting their fragmented family. Mr. Ryder’s acknowledgement Eliza, despite knowing the fact that he must go against his principles, he proposes that individuals must unite as a family if they want to promote change. Chesnutt short story proposes that black Americans need to unite in the struggle to end racial and social

    Read More

  • Richard Wright’s Misperception of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God

    2452 Words  | 5 Pages

    ———. The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch. New York: Viking Press, 1937.

    Read More

  • Prejudice in "King of the Bingo Game"

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main character is completely alienated from the world around him. He is a black man living in a white world, a man who was born in the South but is now living in the North, and his only form of companionship is his dying wife, Laura, whom he is desperate to save. He is unable to work since he has no birth certificate—no official identity. Without a job he is unable to make his mark in the world, and if his wife dies, not only would he lose his lover but also any evidence that he ever existed. As the story progresses he loses his own awareness of his identity—“somehow he had forgotten his own name.” The author emphasizes the main character’s mistreatment in life by white society during a vivid recollection of an event in his childhood when he was chased by a train filled with “white people laughing as he ran screaming,” a hallucination which was triggered by his exploration of the “old scars” on his body. This connection between alienation and oppression highlight Ellison’s central idea.

    Read More

  • The Ethics of Living Jim Crow an Autobiographical Sketch by Richard Wright

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wright, R. (2001). The ethics of living Jim Crow: An autobiographical sketch. In P. Rothenberg (Ed.). Race, class, and gender in the United States: An integrated study. (5th ed. pp. 21-30). New York: Worth Publishers.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Margaret In Much Ado About Nothing

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    Margaret is an intelligent, articulate, and ambitious woman who desires to rise up in social status by marrying a man of higher social rank. She attends to those above her, in hopes of elevating her status as she becomes closer to the upper-class. As a minor character, she plays a small yet crucial role in advancing Don John’s plot to slander Hero and spoil her wedding. As a lower-class character, Margaret serves as a foil to the rich girls, particularly Hero, who embodies every attitude and mindset Margaret does not. But she also offers an alternative perspective on the upper-class characters in the play. Because Margaret is victimized because of her social ambitions, punished for wanting to rise above her ...

    Read More

More about The Wife Of His Youth Charles Chesnutt Analysis

Open Document