Charles Waddell Chesnutt's The Wife Of His Youth

It was April 12th 1865, the slaves of the south were promised an opportunity, a new opening in the world that had for so long been run by whites. With the end of the Civil War, America was supposed to be on to new horizons. Racism was supposed to eventually come to an end in order to make available the same prospect for all peoples, regardless of skin tone or cultural heritage. Instead, what ensued into the 20th and 21st centuries was the ire of prejudice and bigotry from both the minorities and the majority. Princeton Professor Wendy Belcher tweeted Woodrow Wilson’s summarization of the situation by attesting that “[the United States] cannot make a homogenous population out of people who do not blend with the Caucasian race”. Woodrow Wilson’s …show more content…
He believed that if one followed family roots, more happiness could be achieved than assimilation into another culture would bring about. This aspect of finding one’s roots is well demonstrated in Chesnutt’s book, The Wife of His Youth, when the main character’s features are described at the beginning of the story as being “of a refined type, his hair was almost straight; he was always neatly dressed; his manners were irreproachable, and his morals above suspicion” (645). The main character, Mr. Ryder, was of black heritage, he had been a slave, and yet he still managed to conform to society and act like a white man. Soon he would be married to a fair skinned women, which would act as a sort of final step of assimilation. However, Ryder met an old black woman who made him remember his past; remember how he had forgotten his true …show more content…
It is better sometimes to grin through the pain in order to provide yourself a better future. Dunbar puts pen to paper saying “We wear the mask that grins and lies, / It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes” (We Wear the Mask, 1-2). The mask represents assimilation as it hides a cultural background, but it also helps to provide a better life for minorities all around. Dunbar continues saying, “We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries / To thee from tortured souls arise” (We Wear the Mask, 10-11). By saying that wearing the mask is torture to the soul, Dunbar is advocating that it pains his people to hide behind a veil. This brings up the question of whether or not it is worth wearing the mask in order to achieve a better future. In the end, Dunbar is saying that it is worth it; a better future outweighs the old culture. Dunbar advocates that it is good to assimilate, to wear the mask and live in a cage, but at the same time to sing, not forget one’s origin, and to be proud of a diverse