The turn of the nineteenth century brought about remarkable changes in the lives of African-Americans and a pioneer who reflected those revolutionary changes in his work of art is Charles W. Chesnutt. The two stories The Wife of His Youth and The Passing of Grandison delve into the legacies of slavery and reconstruction and explore the racial identity through the African-American speech and folklore. This paper throws light on Chesnutts dramatization of the complex relationship between the African-Americans and the Whites apart from the way the Blacks positioned themselves in the society which witnessed a revolution at the turn of the century. Referring to the emancipation of the Blacks, Bay states that During the nineteenth century and beyond, a defense of black humanity reverberates throughout African-American culture, crossing class and regional lines and shaping the racial thought of the educated, the ignorant and the in-between (117)
The Wife of His Youth depicts life along the color line where a light skinned man, trying to forget his black past confronts with the reality of his past at his door step until when he keeps focusing on his whiteness. In this short story Mr. Ryder, the mulatto is searching for an identity and lives between the tensions of interracial and intraracial living. He is in a moral dilemma whether to marry the young and attractive woman belonging to his class or to accept the aging but devoted wife bonded through his legally invalid marriage.
Mr. Ryder, the dean of the Blue Veins is pushed to test his personal integrity who tries to identify himself with the Whites and this tumultuous period of transition is vividly depicted by Chesnutt. Ryder justifies his policy of social climbing through social Darwinism-Self-preservation is the first law of nature Ryder is intensely involved with the goal of Blue Vein, in order to be absorbed by the White race. Hence he strongly believed that marrying a girl from his class will further move him towards absorption for which he has been longing all along his life.
Chesnutt without any melodrama or an internal argument with Ryder concludes the short story through the action of the protagonist. Ryder introduces his wife to the gathering as such and thereby reaffirms his bond with his past life. By accepting his Black wife Ryder is not trying to renounce the ideology of Blue Vein related to upward mobility and absorption into the White race. Also he has not moved backward by such a bold step, but instead has come forward and has proved his worth through his behavior and not with his skin color. Andrews while discussing the conclusion of story, states that Ryder rises when he sacrifices a narrow notion of public success for a more private moral responsibility (115) Though the conflict within the mind of Ryder is not depicted by Chesnutt, the thoughts and actions of Ryder speak more than words and the final speech mirrors the psychology of the rising middle-class Black intellectuals.
Chesnutt uses humor and satire in The Passing of Grandison in order to interpret the thoughts and attitude of the Southern Whites towards their Black Slaves. Grandison is wearing the perfect mask of an innocent uneducated obedient slave who is loyal to his White master. The final twist comes as a surprise to both the readers and the White master as Grandison outwits his Master and flees the plantation with his entire family. With such an anti-climax, Chesnutt urges the White readers to re-examine the way they viewed the Black Slaves. Whites, controlling the Blacks physically considered themselves to be superior and Grandison outsmarts his white maser and has proven the words of Tom Windham talking about the subhuman treatment of the Blacks stated that I think we should have our liberty cause us aint hogs or horses-us is human flesh
Chesnutt states that there is no such thing as Negro dialect. It is just to express with a certain degree of phonetic correctness in order to suggest the sound of English words as pronounced by an uneducated old Southern Black slave. Even in The Passing of Grandison, Chesnutt sparingly uses the Negro dialect in order to present reality without exaggeration or melodrama.
For the Whites, the Blacks are hardly human and hence turn blind to their motives. It never strikes Dick that Grandison would never wish to secure freedom leaving his family back at the plantation, as he believes that family is his only asset. Even when Dick informs Grandison that he is now in Canada, a free man, not bound by the clutches of slavery, he wears the mask so perfectly that he does not show sign of interest. He, in fact says Lets go back ober de ribber, Mars Dick, Grandison replies. Is feared Ill lose you ovuh heah, an den I won hab no marster, an wont nebber be able to git back home no mo.
To conclude, Chesnutt has captured the tumultuous inner struggle and the perfect masking of the Blacks in the two short stories. He has not only closely studied the attitude of the Whites towards their Black Slaves, but also the way Blacks viewed themselves and their relationship with the Whites.
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