The Veil In W. E. B. Du Bois The Wife Of His Youth

“…the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world…” (p887) this observation made by W.E.B Du Bois is a shared feeling in the separated community created by the color line. Other authors of his time also incorporated these same observations within their stories. In “The Wife of His Youth”, author Charles W. Chesnutt further supports the position of viewing the world through a veil by the story’s character Mr. Ryder. Mr. Ryder experiences the veil separation symptoms by ignoring his true identity, creating and battling through a double consciousness, and ultimately uncovering the veil, after realizing the fog in judgement it creates. The Blue Veins Society’s prestigious and pretentious appearance is built from superficial perspectives. Although Mr. Ryder is not as white as he desires, he is described by Chesnutt in a manner where “his appearance was such as to confer distinction upon them. His features were of a refined type, his hair was almost straight;
Ryder’s life after he decides to accept the wife of his youth. After asking “My friends, what would the man do? I will presume that he was one who loved honor, and tried to deal justly with all men” (p. 713), Mr. Ryder finds self-improvement without the shame in reference from another culture. His acceptance of his true self allowed him to unveil his true identity to those around him, and confront the blue-gums Liza Jane without a white perception or conscious. Mr. Ryder with this decision made a command in his own destiny, and instead of living within the veil pulled away from the alternative Dubois often sees where an African American measures “one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.” (pg887) To Mr. Ryder the veil was an inner struggle in self-actualization. A veil that created a blur from a clear picture of his true