The Wife Of His Youth Summary

Charles W. Chesnutt, in “The Wife of His Youth”, addresses the challenges biracial people face as their lives transitions “from slavery to freedom and freedom to slavery”. In the story, complexities arise when Mr. Ryder, a well-respected biracial man, tries to find his own true identity. Like other biracial in the community, he finds himself deciding whether to acknowledge his past or gain higher status in society by refusing to accept the past. After gaining freedom, Mr. Ryder worked hard to improve his life and he believes adapting the values of white Americans is only way to gain acceptance into the community. Biracial people fear that revealing their past may halt their progress in improving their status in society. However, through the story, Chesnutt implies that when biracial people refuse to accept their past, they are not being true to themselves. This prevents society from moving forward and

fully integrating biracial people into the American society.
Acknowledging the past and revealing the true identity is a difficult choice for African Americans when they try to discover their new individual identity after gaining freedom.

After escaping from slavery, Mr. Ryder became a self-educated and hard-working man, and gained the status of a dean in the honorable Blue Vain Society. His improvements are motivated by his desire to obtain the opportunities that he did not have as a slave. However, acknowledging his past as a slave “would be for [Mr. Ryder] a backward step” (7) that would take away his honor and status in society. Although Mr. Ryder “[has] no race prejudice”, he wants to distance himself from his past as a former slave to preserve what he has accomplished through his hard work. When he says “Self-preservation is the first law of nature” (7), Mr. Ryder implies that biracial people should move forward in society and gain more rights without concerning themselves with matters that would lower their position in society. Therefore, deciding to identify as former slaves is a complex choice for biracial

people.
Charles W. Chesnutt sets Mr. Ryder as an example to show that biracial people should accept their past and be proud of their racial background. Mr. Ryder finds himself in a difficult situation when his meets Liza Jane, “the wife he had left behind” (22) because acknowledging Liza Jane would reveal his past that he covered for his entire life. In addition, if Mr. Ryder acknowledges Liza, then he might not achieve the social status which he wished to get by marrying Mrs. Dixon, a wealthy woman who is much younger than him. Although, he knows the consequences, Mr. Ryder reveals himself because he “loved honor and tried to deal with all men justly” (22). His actions shows that African Americans should not only improve their status in society but also live with honor and pride of their past. Not denying their past would help biracial people to make progress as a group and move society forward.
To conclude, African Americans face distinct challenges in society when they gain freedom and try to find their true identity. It is difficult for them to acknowledge their past as slaves while trying to improve their status in society. However, when African American accept their past, they can fully integrate into the American society. The progress they make as a group makes the stronger, making it easier for them to stand up to oppression and discrimination. Furthermore, not being ashamed of their past as slaves can help African Americans change the society by making everyone equal. Thus, acknowledging the past is crucial to increasing the rights of African American and helping African Americans find their true identity.