Comments on: Du Bois and Chesnutt

By: Lacey Babekuhl

Lacey Babekuhl — Sat, 03 May 2008 20:56:55 +0000

I thought the way that Du Bois portrayed African Americans was completely ironic and slightly unexpected. His representation of what Twain considered an uneducated dialect shocked many I’m sure since he has such a strong African background. Whether he did this to show society how they were harming their fellow Americans or for shear entertainment purposes is a question better left for someone else.

By: Justin Heyd

Justin Heyd — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:56:57 +0000

I found it a bit ironic that though Du Bois was a African American, he still chose to use the same ignorant vernacular that was use in Huck Finn to make Jim look ignorant, stupid, and less civilized. I really didn’t expect this initially because on how the beginning of the poem started. I think that Du Bois’s view towards a double consciousness was very deep because it was his way of describing the African American living situation and standards within America while living in America. We notice as readers that this double consciousness is something that happens to use within our culture and is at the same time different than what is happening somewhere else in America.

By: Sam Matzke

Sam Matzke — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:04:58 +0000

The double consciousness is the way of doing something that is normal to you and your culture but at the same time having to be something different to the rest of society. Blacks knew that they are no different from whites and can do the same thing whites can do but they had to act and talk a certain way otherwise the white society would have condemmed them even more. I think the use of vernaculr further shows the effect of double consciousness by have what we would consider “normal” conversation and then moving to a style similar to Twains in Huck Finn. It shows both sides of the consciousness.

By: Cory Haisch

Cory Haisch — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:13:15 +0000

I would like to solely address DuBois’s notion of a double consciousness. First of all, what he means by this term is that African-Americans at the time had to view their actions both in the context of their culture and how their actions would fit in with the majority white crowd. In response to the question of if this double consciousness still exists, I believe that it does, maybe not in the exact same sense that DuBois meant, but to some degree double consciousness is still around. All one would have to do, is take a look at any high school. Everyone can remember the kids that really did not know how to act around everyone else because they were unsure of how to fit in. This lack of not knowing how to act around others is a sort of double consciousness because while they view their actions singularly, by themselves, they also think about their actions in the context of how the group members will view their actions. That is how, I think the notion of double consciousness is still alive in the United States today. I also feel that DuBois used the multiple literary forms to really add power to his statements. What i mean by this is that a fiction story can only say so much, but as soon as he added the autobiographical element to his writing it added an entire new level of power to his argument because it illustrates to the reader that this is actually going on in the world, right now.

By: Katherine Wielechowski

Katherine Wielechowski — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:53:35 +0000

I don’t know about anybody else, but I was totally not expecting the old lady to be Mr. Ryder’s wife. I know that the title is “The Wife of his Youth” and all, but he spent most of the story talking about how he wanted to marry Ms. Dixon, all the while knowing that he was married. I know that he probably assumed that she had died, but wouldn’t you make for damn sure that your wife is dead before you marry another woman? Especially when you are trying to pass yourself off as “better” than others in your community. I would think that he would try his hardest to prevent anything from ruining his new “perfect” life. At the end, Mr. Ryder did redeem himself, he accepted his wife into his life in front of his group instead of just shuffling her under the carpet like he could have done.

By: Kevin G. Myrmoe

Kevin G. Myrmoe — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:57:18 +0000

I believe that Du Bois uses his autobiography and other non fiction sources in order to strengthen his argument and claim. Giving true accounts of an event strengthens any piece of writing and what area of study. Du Bois’ double consciousness refers to the situation of African Americans living in America. It was hard to be an African American living in America. African Americans did not have the same rights as other people living in America. This is why it was hard to live in America. Du Bois clearly states what African Americans need. “Work, culture, liberty,– all these we need, not signly but together, not successively but together, each growing and aiding each, and all striving toward that vaster ideal that swims before the Negro people, the ideal of human brotherhood, gained through the unifying ideal of Race. . .” (900) Du Bois strove for unifying the races together. This situation that the African Americans faced were the same for other people, including the immigrants who moved to America. I believe that these issues are still present with us today and they will always be. Even though long strides have been made, these issues will always be present.

By: Ashley Schleusener

Ashley Schleusener — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:27:50 +0000

I don’t know if Mr. Ryder’s choice of language was used improperly in “Wife of my Youth.” I think that the type of language was used to show how Mr. Ryder was maybe becoming accustomed to the new “culture” of the time. It was almost as he was seeing himself as someone different that what he really was. The dialect was hard to read at times, but I think that it kind of foreshadowed more to come when the woman appeared at his door. I really liked the ending to the book, but at the same time I’m not so sure Mr. Ryder was confident in the decision of where he belonged. However, he came clean with his heritage and ended up with the woman who never stopped loving him. Double consciousness is present through the whole story, but I think this is what makes the story interesting, yet difficult to read.

By: Jolene Slagter

Jolene Slagter — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:32:20 +0000

As in response to Judy. I was also confused Chesnutt’s choice of language. i could understand him speaking out against that type of languange being used at all. if he was trying to make a point by being sarcastic he should have made it more obvivious because to me it just seemed demeaning.

By: Jeana Wegner

Jeana Wegner — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:47:06 +0000

I think that Mr. Ryder’s dilemma greatly represents the troubles that African American’s face. Especially in that time African American’s struggled so hard to make themselves be seen as equals and Mr. Ryder at least has a chance to pass as a white man and yet he choses his past. All through the story I couldn’t understand what the point was and why this random woman was talking to him, but as soon as he looked at his face in the mirror I knew who he was. I also couldn’t understand how the woman didn’t recognize him after she goes on and on about how she could pick him out in any crowd. That was pretty ironic. I guess since Mr. Ryder looked so white and could practically pass for a member of the Blue Society, the thought probably never crossed her mind. I greatly admire him for going back and telling her the truth in front of all his high society friends because even though he could have walked away, sealed the marriage with Ms. Dixon and had been considered ‘white,’ he chose the higher rode to be with the woman who loved him enough to search for him all those years. No doubt the road would have been easier for him in society and with opportunities had he ignored her, but he decided to present himself to his friends and let them know exactly who he is and the bride of his youth.

By: Hannah Kunzweiler

Hannah Kunzweiler — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:01:24 +0000

Chesnutt used dialect and vernacular heavily in “The Goophered Grapevine.” On a personal note, I found the story a bit difficult to read due to the fact that it was almost completely told by the “venerable-looking colored man.” The dialect presented a challenge to me as a reader. Like Twain, Chesnutt made it obvious through his use of dialect/vernacular that the African Americans of that era were uneducated and subordinate to whites. The language in “The Goophered Grapevine” is interesting since Chesnutt is an African American himself. He nevertheless uses dialect to portray his own people as more ignorant than whites, adhering to the inferior status that African Americans still struggle against to this day. In that way, the story relates to Du Bois’s idea of “double consciousness,” because although slavery had been abolished by the time “The Goophered Grapevine” was published, and African Americans had some rights as citizens, they still struggled – as Du Bois wrote, “One ever feels his two-ness, –an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”