Wife of His Youth
People often make the categories of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, physical condition, etc., contend for the title of most oppressed. Within "race," various populations groups then compete for that top spot. Through the book, The Wife of His Youth, by Charles Wadell Chesnutt one can learn that racism existed within the "race," colored mattered, and that racism evolves throughout the racial history. Racism existed within the race. People within the groups competed to be at the top. In The Wife of His Youth, the main character Mr. Ryder is a highly respected man in his society called the Blue Veins. The Blue Veins is a society for the colored people who have white skin that their veins show. Mr. Ryder is faced with a situation where he has to choose to stay at the top by hiding the truth and marrying a highly respected woman in the Blue Veins, Mrs. Molly Dixon or reveal his secret and be married to a woman who is considered low among the races. However Mr. Ryder chooses to reveal that
Ryder had to somehow gain recognition from the Blue Veins that it was okay to have a wife outside the approval of the race, the society. After he becomes "a someone" in society he wishes to forget about his past until the wife of his youth comes along his path and makes his decide, truth or fame. He asks, "Shall you acknowledge her?" (p. Talking race is an intellectual minefield; for every social observation, one can find three contradictions and four necessary qualifications. In doing so, one has to proceed with both boldness and infinite care. Racism evolves; it has no single, permanently fixed set of characteristics. Also today one has to acknowledge the fact that other races exist, not only blacks. a former slave is his wife, but in order for him to come to the conclusion he struggles much about how the others would feel about this situation because mostly likely people of his society would look down upon him. Also by reading The Wife of His Youth, one knows that Mr. Racism is not a set theory in the minds of the people, but instead a theory that constantly changes according to the time and the needs of the environment. Ryder struggles whether or not to reveal his secret to the Blue Veins because colored mattered and he did not know if they would be able to accept the fact that he was married to his ugly black woman. Through the book, The Wife of His Youth, one can learn that racism existed within the "race," colored mattered, and that racism evolves. He was able to persuade the Blue Veins so that the wife of his youth can be accepted in the society.
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Acceptance Essays
