In Dorothy West’s The Wedding parents are the deciding factor. They determine the future of their half of the tree. Their ideals are instilled and then passed on from child to child. The evolution of the Coles family begins with Preacher. His life’s work is the improvement of the Coles’ brand. He becomes a preacher, influencing a white community he might not have been able to converse with otherwise. Preacher becomes aware that he cannot rise to the top in one lifetime, but rather, over many. His boy,Isaac, is the vessel for his successful legacy. Intern Isaac in death passes this on to the young Clark. This trend plagues the Coles family for generations. The trend of success of individual happiness and identity. The Coles family is the embodiment
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Isaac is the key to economic, social and racial expansion for Preacher. Preacher knowing he may not achieve that in his lifetime, but believes Isaac can. Preacher molds Isaac in his image;this is why Isaac is cold at times to his wife and young family, as they represent his assimilation to society rather than a relationship formed from love.Preacher puts himself, his family and future generations on this path due to a conscious breaking of his ‘roots.’ Preacher is a product of rape. He is the spawn of a white master forcing himself on his black mother. He didn’t grow up in what most would call a happy home, he believes does Isaac. Preacher never the opportunities he feels he has afforded his son. The Preacher had to work hard to attain the not so glorious life he leads.Isaac is the avatar for his dreams. This results in the Preacher saving his money while his boy grows up to make him into a form of investment,“With a church that made his title proper in the mouths of his flock and in the mouths of white men on Sunday, with a stall that made money, and a wife who earned money, and a house kept so clean that you could eat off the floor, Preacher could have the his son would do well if he did no worse”(133). He aspires to have his family line …show more content…
Like Isaac, Clark enters a superficial union, with Corrine. He had the opportunity to go off the materialistic path, but as the children in his family have always done they go with the instincts their fathers created for them. The instinct for success; success Preacher defined. Out of regret he begins an affair with Rachel. The redeeming quality about his affair with his assistant is that it is met with true passion unlike his marriage in which, “It was inevitable, it was arranged, that Clark would draw Corrine out of the non existent hat, for to everyone except themselves their coming together had the full consent of heaven.”(162). Rachel isn’t a mistake to him. Yes she is young but in the previous chapter his time with her can been seen as somewhat blissfully, not a chore. She is what Sabina could have been, an actual love. Clark like Isaac has reached Preachers idea of success, with high status and economic standing. Clark also like Isaac is morally bankrupt. The difference, Isaac growing up in the lower class was so focused on becoming the perfect picture that he never questioned who he was. Clark grows up in his father 's riches. This causes him to something a father in the Coles family has never done, question his life and give Shelby the option to chose her own way.
Isaac is the key to economic, social and racial expansion for Preacher. Preacher knowing he may not achieve that in his lifetime, but believes Isaac can. Preacher molds Isaac in his image;this is why Isaac is cold at times to his wife and young family, as they represent his assimilation to society rather than a relationship formed from love.Preacher puts himself, his family and future generations on this path due to a conscious breaking of his ‘roots.’ Preacher is a product of rape. He is the spawn of a white master forcing himself on his black mother. He didn’t grow up in what most would call a happy home, he believes does Isaac. Preacher never the opportunities he feels he has afforded his son. The Preacher had to work hard to attain the not so glorious life he leads.Isaac is the avatar for his dreams. This results in the Preacher saving his money while his boy grows up to make him into a form of investment,“With a church that made his title proper in the mouths of his flock and in the mouths of white men on Sunday, with a stall that made money, and a wife who earned money, and a house kept so clean that you could eat off the floor, Preacher could have the his son would do well if he did no worse”(133). He aspires to have his family line …show more content…
Like Isaac, Clark enters a superficial union, with Corrine. He had the opportunity to go off the materialistic path, but as the children in his family have always done they go with the instincts their fathers created for them. The instinct for success; success Preacher defined. Out of regret he begins an affair with Rachel. The redeeming quality about his affair with his assistant is that it is met with true passion unlike his marriage in which, “It was inevitable, it was arranged, that Clark would draw Corrine out of the non existent hat, for to everyone except themselves their coming together had the full consent of heaven.”(162). Rachel isn’t a mistake to him. Yes she is young but in the previous chapter his time with her can been seen as somewhat blissfully, not a chore. She is what Sabina could have been, an actual love. Clark like Isaac has reached Preachers idea of success, with high status and economic standing. Clark also like Isaac is morally bankrupt. The difference, Isaac growing up in the lower class was so focused on becoming the perfect picture that he never questioned who he was. Clark grows up in his father 's riches. This causes him to something a father in the Coles family has never done, question his life and give Shelby the option to chose her own way.