English Blog #10

In “The Wife of his Youth” Mr. Ryder who is preparing for his ball gets an unexpected visitor named Liza. Liza tells Mr. Ryder of her long journey to find her husband Sam, who promised to one day reunite with her. The “aha!” moment came when Mr. Ryder said, “Perhaps he’s outgrown you, and climbed up in the world where he wouldn’t care to have you find him” (The Wife of his Youth). Early on in the reading the author describes how Mr. Ryder “had come to Groveland a young man, and obtaining employment in the office of a railroad company as messenger had in time worked himself up to the position of stationary clerk,” (The Wife of his Youth). Also the author describes Mr. Ryder as someone who “was economical, and had saved money; he owned and occupied a very comfortable house on a respectable street’ (The Wife of his Youth). These passages describe how Mr. Ryder himself had moved up in society.  I could also sense distress from Mr. Ryder after the visit from Liza when “he went upstairs to his bedroom, and stood for a long time before the mirror of his dressing-case, gazing thoughtfully at the reflection of his own face” (The Wife of his Youth). I knew that Mr. Ryder was indeed the same man Liza had spent twenty five years searching for.

Another “aha!” moment came when I saw the determination displayed by Liza who spent twenty five searching for her husband. I could see that no matter what Liza was determined she would soon find her husband. It was clear when Liza said, “Sump’ns be’ tellin’ me all dese years dat I’s gwine fin’ Same ‘fo I dies” (The Wife of his Youth). I was reminded of Frederick Douglass. In his narrative Frederick Douglass is determined to accomplish two goals. The first was being able to read and the second was to become a free man.  Liza however, was in search of her husband. Neither person gave up on accomplishing their goals. Frederick Douglass would trade his food with young boys in exchange for lessons on how to read. The determination shown by both characters was the determination that our class has been discussing when regarding to the early African Americans. During early years of our nation African Americans were determined to one day have their freedom. As a result of the war African Americans were able to have their freedom; however, equality wouldn’t come till much later. For example, even after African Americans had been given the right to vote literacy tests were set up in order to prevent African Americans from voting. Determination shown by African Americans and those against slavery would impact our nation forever.