Moment of Insight

When I was reading “Learning to Read” and “The Wife of his Youth” I was confronted by a few realizations about things that we now take for granted or seem to just ignore because we get so wrapped up in ourselves.

“Learning to Read” made me realize how much Americans as well as myself take reading for granted. I wouldn’t call myself an avid reader unless I’m really interested in a book, but the ability is something I should be more thankful for. I have the resources to read as much and as often as I wish, but I just choose not to. In our lives we have become so distracted by our busy lives or other things involving technology and we really undervalue the gift of the written word. As a journalism major, I am constantly writing and the only things that I really read are newspapers or articles online. After reflecting on Harper’s “Learning to Read”, the difficult process gaining literacy for African Americans was called to my attention and I realized how fortunate we really are that we have such easy access to education. I feel that in order to memorialize the struggles of those that came before me, I should really take advantage of my educational resources and pass it on to others.

“The Wife of his Youth” also led me to an understanding and insight, however, of a completely different kind. Mr. Ryder’s process of struggling with his own regret and deciding what is ultimately right caused me to reflect on our own struggle with doing what is right in contemporary society. I think a lot of people today feel that we as a society have stepped away from values and morals and now just focus on ourselves and selfish thoughts. I was really surprised that Mr. Ryder recognized his own wrong-doing of neglecting his wife, by taking her back in the end and announcing it to his peers. When he explained the situation to his peers and asked for their opinions, I wondered if he would have stuck with his decision to reveal his long-lost wife if they had felt otherwise. Even though I was skeptical about Mr. Ryder’s heart and motives at first, I do think that he would have acknowledge her anyway because that is the right thing to do. That was the ultimate realization I took away from this text. We need to stop being so concerned with what others around us think, and be more concerned on doing what is right and staying true to ourselves. As corny as it might be, it made me think of the saying,” What is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular.”