urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cuhaynes American Literature 1855-1916 Curtis Haynes 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cuhaynes:2745 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z I apologize for this entry being late, I totally forgot about posting. I have no idea where my mind was. But here it is....I realy enjoyed reading Charles W. Chesnutt's short story "The Wife of My Youth". I though that it was cute and very romantic the way the story ended. I think that it is great for Mr. Ryder to embrace his African heritage the way he did at the end. However, I do not believe that he totally abandoned his European heritage. The reason why I say this is because of the way Mr. Ryder talks so highly of the benefits of being "fairer" skinned. He gives a laundry of the reasons why one would be better off if they could associate themselves with the white race. Mr. Ryder pretty much glorifies to the fullest his European part of his race.<br />It is very easy to say that you have a new way of thinking due to somebody from your past coming back into your life positioning you to change your persective. However, life for an African American was horrible compare to that of a European American therefore why not enjoy life and take advantage of your priviledges? I guess the point of the story was that there are mulatto's like Charles W. Chesnutt, who chose to embrace their African Heritage wholeheartedly while expecting all of the misgivings that come along with it. For me to know that as an African American, that encourages me to be more proud of my race and show that one could have been a successful writer at that time by being known as an African American.