The Wife Of His Youth

Mr. Ryder is defined by duality. On the one hand, he is Sam Taylor, a man who was freeborn and shiftless because there was no benefit to working hard when the master to whom he was apprenticed would take all his labor’s profit. On the other hand, he is Mr. Ryder (note the formality of this name), an affluent man, eligible bachelor, and property owner who is upwardly mobile due to his work ethic.

Physically, Mr. Ryder also has a dual identity. He is of mixed-raced ancestry but still dark enough to be unable to pass, unlike many members of the Blue Vein Society. He embraces the white part of his ancestry and makes every attempt to disassociate himself from all things black and working class. In the story, Mr. Ryder faces a pivotal moment in which he prepares to cut himself off irrevocably from his past (as Liza Jane’s husband and a near slave) by marrying Mrs. Dixon and thereby “help to further the upward process of absorption he had been wishing and waiting for” (Part 1, Line 79). In short, marrying a lighter-skinned woman such as Mrs. Dixon will solidify his position as a member of the light-skinned, black elite.