Desiree's Baby Thesis

In “Desiree Baby” Chopin shows how one skin color defines social class, and determines the value and identity of another (Cummings).For the majority of the story, Armand is clearly looked upon as a white male of class and wealth, until the end of the story. He owns land in L’ Abri, and he has a plantation full of African Americans working for him as slaves. Armand have slaves to do his work for him. He also expresses an individual class between the races of the slaves. The lighter slaves worked inside with his

The article criticizes Armand’s behavior in the story “Desiree’s Baby.” Armand is describe as a cruel master of slaves. Due to the importance of his tittle, Armand has a reputation to maintain. The article emphasizes the pressure that Armand had for upholding his position. Even though, Chopin gives clues about his past, the end of the story is a complete surprise for the reader. Also, the article questions the possibility of Armand knowing about his heritage due to the fact that he was eight years old when his mother died. The author justifies his actions by stating that they were a result of the “nineteenth century racism.” In the following article a better

These two were soon wed and had started to grow as a family. Once Desiree had birthed a son for Armand he cherished her even more as she had given him a legacy. As this child began to grow into his toddler years Armand regretted his decision to marry Desiree – ultimately leading to her and her child’s assumed death.

Chopin’s use of color is very symbolic in the way each describe characters. She writes “the young mother.. ..in her soft white muslins” (Chopin 2). Although Armand blames their baby’s darker complexion on her unknown origin, the play of color Chopin uses foreshadows otherwise. “She was like a stone image: silent, white, motionless after she placed it [letter] there” (5). Only describing Desiree with the color white, Chopin suggests a certain purity about her. She uses white to signify kindness and innocence, and black to show power and machiavellianism. The author refers to Armand as handsome, yet dark, which

In the short story, “Desiree’s Baby,” Kate Chopin exposes the harsh realities of racial divide, male dominance, and slavery in Antebellum Louisiana. Although written in 1894, Chopin revisits the deep-south during a period of white privilege and slavery. Told through third-person narration, the reader is introduced to characters whose individual morals and values become the key elements leading to the ironic downfall of this antebellum romance. As Chopin takes the reader through the unfortunate circumstances and unexpected twists of Desiree’s life, a Southern Gothic tale emerges. While Armonde is Chopin’s obvious villain, one should not assume that the other characters are not antagonists themselves, as

The short story Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin provides a sobering depiction of how the dark forces of prejudice and social hierarchy tore apart a plantation owning family in the state of Louisiana. Desiree’s character is that of a lady who carries the burden of being submissive to a domineering husband, a role she keeps until the very end of the narrative. Desiree is portrayed as an agent of light so to speak throughout the plotline but is seriously blinded by her doglike allegiance to her husband Armand, who is in essence her master and her livelihood. The struggle for female independence is a signature theme in a number of Chopin’s works and was a struggle for women in the South during this

Differences between people create conflicts between people.  This is especially true between men and women, since throughout history society has viewed women as subservient to men.  Kate Chopin’s feminist short story, Desiree’s Baby, illustrates man’s domination over woman.  Since Desiree meekly accepts being ruled by Armand, and Armand regards Desiree as his possession, the master/slave relationship that exists between Armand and Desiree is undeniable.

Armand, a slave owner, has a past that the reader only comes to find about at the last possible moment of the story. We come to find out through a letter that his mother is of an African or slave descent, as Armand’s mother’s letter states, “I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (4). This plays a tremendous role of who Armand is as a character and a player in this story. It is clear that Armand must have known of this “secret” past, making denial one of Armand’s main characteristics. Desiree claims that, “He has n’t punished one of them-not one of them- since baby is born.” Maybe wanting to feel superior or better than the people of his race, he treated his slaves badly to try to beat them down to a lower standard than what he was born and raised upon. Another form of denial Armand shows is by blaming Desiree for the dark coloring of their child whose name is not mentioned during the story. Iony is used as Chopin remarks, “Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand” (3). Using forms of characterization, foreshadowing, and irony, Kate Chopin guides us to see the real Armand and what he feels inside and also what he stands

In Desiree’s Baby, Kate Chopin shows how over valuing of white race and status can destroy a relationship and a family. Race and status are intangible ideas humans make up to segregate one another and should not be valued higher than a human life, but this is not the case in "Desiree’s Baby.”

In Desiree’s Baby, Kate Chopin writes “ He thought almighty god had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him; and felt, somehow, that he was paying him back in kind when he stabbed thus into his wife’s soul. Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name.” Here, one can observe the irony as they complete the story and find out Armand actually possesses the black genes which got passed down to the baby. The whole story, Armand gets portrayed as a person who acts superior to blacks and owns slaves. He is what one refers to as a hypocrite, nothing more than a hypocrite. He deserves to work like a dog until he dies because of the pain and suffering he put hi slaves through. The whole time he claimed Desiree brought dishonor to his family when his family was the impure family that he referred to. Jon Erickson states “ The villainy is elaborated on in Armand’s attempt to burn everything associated with Desiree and the baby.” The whole story, Armand gets represented as a racist man who hates negroes. While in reality his origin shows African descent. He gave the baby the African genes and persecuted Desiree for something he was. His persecution was hypocritical just like everything else about him, he put on an image of a superior man to everyone else that one can see straight through after reading the whole

Chopin Shows that back then race was everything. It meant so much that people would consider you subhuman or worthless if u had any in your blood line, it also ruined relationships and caused the feeling of disgrace. Armand took this serious he was the typical stereotype. Armand was the master of the L'Abri plantation; he was a strict master who treated the slaves cruel. So much that, the narrator says, “The negroes had forgotten how to be gay.” So you can imagine the thought of him finding out his child was of color. When he found out all hell broke loose. He wanted no parts of Desiree or the baby after finding out. He even said it was Desiree’s fault because she has some Negro blood in her. Desiree’s reaction was priceless instead of fighting for her baby and herself; she just felt disgrace and couldn’t believe she would have some Negro blood in her. She even says it’s a lie, gives her whole

Throughout this story, Chopin makes the reader aware of how mean, rude, and nasty Armand is. For example Chopin states that, ”Young Aubigny’s rule was a strict one, too, and under it his negroes had forgotten how to be gay, as they had been during the old master’s easy going and indulgent lifetime.” From that statement, the reader can predict that Armand’s father was nothing like him. Even though his heart softened after Desiree had the baby, he still allowed his pride and prejudices rule him after the baby got older. At this time in the story Desiree’s life began to change and her world was turned upside down.

     In the next segment of the account, Chopin breaks the enchantment and the readers’ hearts when she turns a fairy tale into a horror show. Armand’s behavior towards Desiree changes drastically, as for “when he spoke to her, it was with averted eyes, from which the old love-light seemed to have gone out.” “He absented himself from home; and when there, avoided her presence and that of her child, without excuse” (32). Armand’s attitude did not only change towards his wife, but also towards the slaves as if “the spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him” (32). Desiree then finds out the reason for her husband’s change of conduct is the fact that their child is not white. The considerable change of mood in the story intensifies the already shocking events. As people are always looking for the “soul mate” and the “happy ever after” ending, it’s both disappointing and disturbing to see a beautiful dream turn into a nightmare.

From this, the reader understands that Armand is attempting to assume a persona of the powerful aristocratic slave-owner. However, in this attempt, Armand demonstrates his very weakness: he is insecure and so must prove his strength. Another example of Armand’s weakness lies in his attempt to destroy all evidence relating to his relationship with Desiree. Armand feels that a marriage to a potentially black woman could be damaging to his to his place in society so he burns all of the evidence of her presence in his life: “In the centre of the smoothly swept back yard was a great bonfire, “ (Chopin 13). Although it is true that during the setting of the story, such a marriage could have been damaging, if he truly were a strong character, he would have defended his own beliefs and maintained his marriage. A final example of Armand’s weakness is in his discovery of a letter from his mother to his father and the reactions implied by the author. The letter carries details about Armand’s own race and how he is actually black. Armand’s implied reactions are that he will in fact take no action: despite the fact that Desiree was not of African descent, she will live her life in the belief that she is. This is the ultimate example of Armand’s weakness as he is too fearful of establishing his own identity to truly do so. Armand has been shown to be a weak, socially malleable character because of his internal

Kate Chopin’s “Désirée 's Baby” was set in the days before the abolition of slavery, at a time when the ownership of another person was not only acceptable, but also economically impactful in the south. It was normal to see big plantations owned by whites and tendered by black slaves. We see all of this and more in “Désirée’s Baby”. One of the characters, Monsieur Valmonde finds an abandoned baby one day while out riding. His wife, Madam Valmonde, does not have a child of her own so she takes the baby in and names her Désirée. Madam Valmonde and her husband, Monsieur Valmonde raises the child, until she is old enough to become married. Her attractiveness and especially white skin attract Monsieur Armand Aubigny, a plantation owner, and they immediately become married and have a child. Désirée and Armand both originally associate themselves with the white class, but once the plot unveils their black heritage they are faced with uncertainty, and ultimately their lives become meaningless and not worth living. Throughout the story, Kate Chopin uses symbolism to convey her themes of racial biasness and social ladder in a society. The characters and the setting in this short story help provide the readers with more understanding of how racially charged our society was at that time.