I was very surprised by the ending of The Wife of His Youth. I expected that Mr. Ryder would not have acknowledged his old wife. The way that he described the society of the blue veins made it seem that he had forgotten his race all together. I'm not sure though how I would have acted in a similar situation. It is very heroic to say that you would not want to be associated with an upper class. However, it is quite tempting to belong. In Mr. Ryder's eyes belonging meant being to opposite of everything that had been formerly associated with his race. Even when I had figured out that he was the young husband I expected it to be a secret he would take to the grave. In addition, I was surprised that the people at the party, especially Ms. Dixon, were so supportive of his decision to acknowledge the older wife. I anticipated the group responding very negatively. Perhaps this is Chesnutt's way of disbanding some of the negative associations people were making in relation to societies of this sort. Maybe Chesnutt was trying to prove that these people were not turning their back on their race at all. They were merely trying to better themselves and uplift everyone. This is all very nice sounding, but I still am not sure if it is really believable. For a man that concerns himself with every outward appearance and ranking it seems unlikely that he would acknowledge his less than beautiful past. You just dont find many people who spend their entire lives trying to run away from the past wanting to revisit it. I guess Mr. Ryder was touched by the love and devotion of his former wife. Perhaps that love was enough to break him down into the real, less than perfect, man that he is.

Unexpected Ending

I was very upset with the ending of Huckleberry Finn. This was my first time reading this book and I expected a more happy ending. After so much bonding between Huck and Jim I can't imagine how Twain thought that the betrayal at the end was suitable. What is even harder to understand is how it is logical that Jim and Huck would so easily forgive Tom for taking their trust and feelings so lightly. The ending leaves the reader feeling let down. I guess it is just harder for us to understand how it could be so easy to toy with someones freedom in such a way. The reader must keep in mind when this was all taking place. If we were reading this in 1884 I'm sure that the thought of taking advantage of a slave and his freedom would sadly not be as upsetting. It just seems so atrocious now that a child could have that control over another person, a grown man of all things. Furthermore, this ending raises the question of how Huck could have went along with all of the trouble Tom was putting Jim through. Even though Huck did not know that Jim was free he knew how much his freedom meant to him. It just seems that Huck would have stood up and put and end to all of Tom's nonsense. However, I do believe that the main reason for Huck going along with the plan was the fact that he was so young and looked up to Tom. I know that when I was Huck's age I did whatever my older sister told me to because I believe she knew better than me. Huck aspires to be Tom so naturally he would listen to what Tom has to say. I don't think that Huck is at the age yet where he can successfully stand up for his own opinion. Though, I do believe that if Huck had know that Jim was already free he would have found it in him to stand up to Tom. I think that Jim and Huck had grown so close to each other that Huck was willing to risk his friendship with Tom for his friendship with Jim.

Revolution is the Pod

In Emily Dickinson's poem, "Revolution is the Pod", she describes that in order for liberty to remain intact it must be tested every so often by revolution. I believe she makes a very good point. Just as Emily describes, excellence can only be a product after revolution has taken place. She goes on to say that in order to see if liberty is still intact revolution, "shakes it for Test if it be dead". I believe that this is true of many things in life. Some of the biggest changes and social movements that support liberty have come out of revolutions small and large. One of the largest of these revolutions was the Civil War. So many times we can overlook the changes that need to be made in the world. In the case of the Civil War the South was refusing to acknowledge the liberty of a whole race of people. It took a revolution of enormous size to make the country as a whole come together and realize the capacity it had for being a better place. In Emily's poem revolution is the pod and excellence is the bloom. Only from revolution can one grow into something more excellent. In the second stanza Dickinson goes on to say that if it were not for the fall, or time of change, the summer would be, "the Entomber of itself". I think what she is trying to say here is that if you never go through a time of change or revolution then you will be your own self destruction. She goes on to say that the same goes for liberty. If liberty is not challenged and defended every so often it will be forgotten and die. To Dickinson liberty is not something that can be left and forgotten about. It must be something that is defended and honored and revised as the times change. I think this is an accurate description of what the United States was going through with the Civil War.