Essay on Wedding
The book Wedding by Dorothy West reveals the story of sisters, who were treated in quite a different way because they were treated as whites, although they were black in fact. In this regard, the author reveals a very important issue which often remains unnoticed that the attitude to people, their position in the public eye and identity are not the result of their racial belongingness but it is rather the result of their social standing, the level of their income, wealth and other factors that turn out to be determinant, while the concept of whiteness or blackness is just stereotypes which mirror the public attitude to whites, which are traditionally viewed as rich, and blacks, which are traditionally viewed as poor.
Sisters are treated in a different way because they are quite different persons but still they have the distinct feature that makes them different from other members of their communities. In fact, they are black but they are treated as whites that is apparently unusual in the community which is accustomed to impose racial biases and stereotypes on whites and African Americans. Such labeling is the norm in the American society, while the treatment of black Americans as whites is quite unusual. At this point, the author explains her position stressing that “identity is not inherent. It is shaped by circumstance and sensitivity and resistance to self-pity” (West, 139). In other words, Dorothy West wants to convey to the audience the idea that the identity of individuals does not depend on their racial background. Instead, the concept of race is rather secondary, when individuals shape their identity as is the case of the sisters in the Wedding. What does matter in the course of the formation of their identity is their social environment and the attitude of other people to them along with their personal experience. As they are treated as whites by their social environment, then they start shaping the white identity which does not actually coincide with the racially biased attitude to them from the part of the average American, who is vulnerable to the impact of racial biases and whose view on the individual is often determined by racial biases. As their identity is shaped by their social environment and personal experience, they feel quite different because Shelby feels the pressure of her family caused by their racial biases and prejudices to the extent that she considers whether to marry the man she loves or not because of the possibility of feeling the constant pressure from the part of her family because of their racial differences. Instead, her sister is quite different since she does not feel such enormous pressure and does not really take serious racial issues. Instead, she feels quite comfortable and takes her life as it is without paying much attention to her racial background. She is just accustomed to be treated as white and she probably feels like being white. Her identity is closer to the identity of a white middle-class woman rather than to the identity of a black woman.
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