The Wife of His Youth - Book Report/Review Example

Book review- The Wife of His Youth The Wife of His Youth is a ical piece of literature written by Charles W. Chestnutt in 1899. The story is the cover story of an anthology of short stories by the author called the wife of his youth and other stories. The book consists of nine stories. The first story, wife of his youth, was critically acclaimed and was very influential in the post civil war American society. This essay aims at analyzing the story to determine its significance in literature. The analysis will focus on two main aspects of drama and fiction namely the themes and characters of the story.

The wife of his youth is a story of a young male of mixed race who has accomplished so much in his society after the civil war in North America. The young man, Mr. Rider, is very respected among his community members and is one of the notable members of the Blue Veins Society, an elitist group made up of successful individuals, mostly of the mixed race. The society derives its name from the idea that one would have to be so white that their veins had to be seen in order for them to gain respect in their society.

Being a successful single man, Mr. Rider was sought after by women in his community but none among them caught his eye. Things suddenly changed when he met Mrs. Molly Dixon, a widow of light complexion from Washington DC. She was well educated and had class. Mr. Rider then planned to propose and marry her. Later on he met a dark skinned woman who was looking for her husband for the past twenty five years. The husband, a former slave had been sold by their slave master before the war. The woman still held hope that her husband still loved her and that they would meet some day.

At a meeting of the Blue veins Society, Rider tells the members about the woman’s story and asks them if it was right for the woman’s husband to reunite with her, given their five years of separation. The people agreed that they should re-unite and Mr. Rider revealed that he was indeed the man in the story. He introduced the woman to the group by saying, ‘this is the woman and I am the man, this is the wife of my youth’ (Chestnutt 1654). One key them that stands out in the story is that of racism.

The story addresses the racial problems encountered by the people of the mixed race in the post war American society. They were neither white nor African Americans. This group of individuals considered themselves superior to the black race but inferior to the White race and sought to find their place in the society. Mr. Rider is quoted as saying that he had no racial prejudice but ‘we people of mixed blood are ground between the upper and the nether millstone’, and that ‘our fate lies between absorption by the white race and extinction in the black’ (Chestnutt 1658).

This illustrates the frustration that the African Americans of mixed blood were going through at the time. Mr. Rider however rises beyond any racial prejudices and stereotypes when he accepts to reunite with the wife of his youth, who was a dark African American. He showed to the rest of the members of the Blue veins society that one could still work with the dark African Americans without any problem. This was a triumph in itself over the problem of racism that had taken over the post war American society.

The other element of analysis in the story is the characters. Several characters contribute to the creation of conflicts in the story and revelation of the main themes. Mr. Rider for instance, the main protagonist is seen as being loyal responsible and a man of integrity. By opting to reunite with his first wife, he was proving his loyalty to her and to the race that had contributed to his success. He also showed a lot of responsibility by working so hard to achieve his success and admiration in his community.

It is also his integrity that enabled him to reunite with his wife. Lisa Jane, Mr. Rider’s, is seen as a resilient, determined and hopeful lady. She does not give up on finding her husband for over 25 years. These two main characters help us to understand the main theme of racism. Having come from two different backgrounds, they end up reuniting and becoming family. This reunion is a triumph over racial problems in the society. The Wife of His Youth is a thought provoking story, that even though it was written thousands of years ago, it still retains a lot of relevance to our current problems.

Several strides have been made with regard to doing away with the issues associated with racism and this story has certainly proved to most people that unity of the society is more important than minor divisions and differences based on racial prejudice. Work Cited Chestnutt, Charles. “The Wife of His Youth.” The Norton Anthology: American Literature. Shorter 7th Edition. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton Company, 2008.