Analysis Of The Wife Of His Youth

The Depth of Love

What is Love? Love has multiple depths to it, it can give people strength and it can last a lifetime. No matter what love is something that everyone can experience but as people, we all experience it differently. In the short passage The Wife of His Youth by Charles W. Chesnutt. You are told the story of Mr. Ryder and how he is planning a ball in the honor of Mrs. Molly Dixon. Mrs. Dixon was enjoying the company of Mr. Ryder, in fact, she encouraged that his actions and it were only matter of time till he was going to pop the question and ask her to marry him. He was going to do it at the ball he was planning. While at the ball, he was going to propose to Mrs. Dixon where she will say yes. That when a woman walked on his …show more content…
Liza was his old wife back when they were both still slaves and Mr. Ryder ran away up to the north, and she was left in the south to stay a slave. When slavery was abolished in 1864. Mr. Ryder did go searching for Ms. Liza down in the south and he eventually gave up on his efforts on searching for his wife. But she didn’t she went searching for Mr. Ryder for 25 years searching for him because she loves him and wouldn’t stop till she found him. But she did find her husband he was sitting across from one another when they had their conversation, she didn’t recognize him which is understandable since it had been 25 years since they last saw each other, but he finally realized that it was him she was looking for after she left his house. Where he acknowledged her in front in all the guest at the party as the husband she was looking for; as he introduced her as “The wife of my youth”. Did their love differ? Why didn’t he say anything to Liza when they first meet after 25 years? Did he acknowledge her to everyone at the party …show more content…
Dixon. The night was reaching a conclusion and everyone gave a speech the last person to give their speech was Mr. Ryder. His speech was the story of him and his wife Liza. He spoke of her and her 25-year journey to find her husband and that it’s commendable that she didn’t let time stray her away from her goals. How they were same in blood but different in color but that didn’t stop their love, and how when he ran away to the north that he changed as a person. How he became an educated man and moved on with his life after he went searching for Liza. That over time he gradually began to move on and then found another woman who claimed his heart. After his speech he posed a question “Shale you acknowledge her?” Everyone in attendants all gave one answer, yes. Then he walked into the shadows and introduced his old wife Liza to everyone at the party as “The Wife of My Youth”. This symbolizes the fact that he has moved on and what they were is in the past when they were young and both slaves. What they had in the past was something great but even though it’s in the past that doesn’t mean that what they had been any less special. It was the cause of their past love that he was able to become the man he is today, that it was his daily motivation when he was young that he wanted to be a great man for his wife so she could be proud of him for the day they meet