The Problems in "The Wife of His Youth"

            While reading Charles W. Chesnutt’s “The Wife of His Youth,” I couldn’t help but let out a little “awwwww” at the ending. It was just too cute! However, just because the ending was adorable doesn’t mean there weren’t may things throughout the story that made me shake my head and say “WHAT?!”.

First off, the idea of the blue-vein society made my head spins. I understood while reading that this was a society for lighter skinned African Americans. Apparently the first time I read the story I missed the part about why blue-vein societies were called such, so I looked it up. These societies were called blue vein societies because member’s skin had to be light enough to see their veins on their arms. Now, when I was first reading I was thinking that blue-vein societies sounded like a form of discrimination amongst blacks. After reading why these societies were called blue-vein, I was appalled by these societies. Maybe it took me realizing that they actually had a measure for the ‘proper’ skin color to realize how discriminatory these societies were. The societies were originally formed to help maintain correct social standards among African Americans, yet nearly all of the members of the society could pass for white! These societies really didn’t give dark skinned African Americans an opportunity for advancement. I found these societies to be extremely problematic.

Another thing I found problematic in this story was Mr. Ryder’s reaction to the wife of his youth visiting his home. He obviously knew that this was his wife but he didn’t acknowledge it. He waited until he was at the ball to ask for approval from his friends before acknowledging his wife. I don’t know about you, but to me that was a low move. Mr. Ryder says he knew his friends would have told him to acknowledge her, yet he STILL waits until he knows for sure they will not shun him if he does so. While yes, in the end, Mr. Ryder does acknowledge the wife of his youth; he should have done so of his own accord and not because his friends said it was ok. While this story ends happily, it does not mean that it has no value as a source of social questioning.  “The Wife of His Youth” questions the value of blue-vein societies, showing how they can lead to heavy reliance on others in regards to what is right and what is wrong.