Discrimination In Desiree's Baby

“Desiree’s Baby” is a short story that touches on the subject of racism. Desiree’s Baby was written by Kate Chopin. Kate Chopin is an American author from St. Louis, Missouri. Kate Chopin’s works often involved women’s issues, racial differences, and social inequalities. Desiree’s Baby is a short story about a woman who had a child that was of a mixed race. Desiree’s Baby touched on many subject, such as racism and social inequalities. Kate Chopin, in her work “Desiree’s Baby,” demonstrates prejudice through foreshadowing, dramatic irony, and situational irony.

A Baby: Born from a Tainted Love Kate Chopin,an American author of short stories and novels, depicts the life of Armand and Desiree ’s baby in a racial community that focuses on the color of an individual in the standards of superiority ideals. It is clearly emphasized that in Kate Chopin’s, literary works she explores the notion of gender roles, attitudes towards race, and by particularly focusing on a woman's identity which are truly highlighted in the short story, “Desiree's baby”. Desiree's baby symbolizes Armand's and Desiree's love tainted by racism, demonstrating a notion that the offspring produced from the foundation of love is consumed by the racial superiority in a society clearly underlying the perception of colour in a hierarchy

In “Desiree Baby”, author, Chopin emphasizes racism by selecting certain words to symbolize the association between light and darkness, and the slaves on the plantation.

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

In the fictional story “Desiree Baby” illustrates a married white couple dealing with their half black son. Soon the father does not accept that their baby is black. The father disowns his son as well as Desiree, but little does the husband know that he has part slave in his blood. Desiree foreshadow the theme of racism being wrong to develop a memorable plot. Early in the story, the reader learns about Desiree having a mixed baby. In a way Desiree subtly hinted at Armand, the husband that their child is not white. Armand pays no mind.

The story “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin’s involves romance that gets crumpled up and burned with racism. It all begins when Madame Valmonde went to go visit Desiree (her adopted daughter) and her baby. Realizing after taking the baby to a window that was the lightest and scanning the baby while looking at Zandrine (an African American slave), the baby shares similar features to Zandrine. It was that moment where everything began to go down hill. This story was not just about one small, happy family, but instead, it was about prejudice, love, and racism. Racism does not come from within, it is manmade or taught.

Desiree’s decision to take the life of her child and her own is motivated by a desire to protect her son from the situation he has been born into and her own somewhat selfish inability to envision a new life. Desiree had an outlet from the hellish atmosphere on the plantation in the form of her loving mother, Madame Valmonde, who offered asylum and support in a letter that instructs Desiree to return home with her son (Chopin 418). She chose to ignore this olive branch because it simply did not compute with her that a life existed outside of her marriage with Armand and thus she chose death for both herself and her child (Korb). Desiree’s demise is rooted in the fact that her unknown familial ties made her completely helpless and unable to provide proof that she was indeed not a part of the African American race further illustrating the power of familial status that existed at the time and its ruthlessness towards those who were considered lowly people.

With Desiree and the baby gone, Armand decides he must destroy the rest of their belongings. He tells the slaves to burn anything that belonged to Desiree and the baby. The last thing to go was letters that Desiree had written to Armand before their marriage. While gathering those letters, Armand discovers a letter his mother wrote to his father. It read, “I thank god for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race this is cursed with the brand of slavery” (244). Armand’s parents knew what they were doing to the family name, but they did not care because they truly loved one another, so much so that they kept Armand’s race a secret as to keep up the family’s reputation. But Armand could not do the same for his own family because he valued his status and white race so highly. After

How can racism and arrogance destroy a whole family? In the short story "Désirée 's Baby" written by Kate Chopin reflects on how racism played a huge role before the American Civil War. Désirée was abandoned by her family when she was young and was adopted by, Madame Valmonde, a rich white family. One day Armand Aubigny was passing when he saw Désirée next to a stone pillar, where he falls in love with her instantly . They get married and have a baby boy. After three months later, her husband discoveries that the baby is not white and assumes that Désirée is from a black family. Armand didn 't want to bring shame to his family lineage and decides to kick Desiree and her baby out. One day while he was trying to burn Desiree things, to destroy memories and evidence, he discoveries a letter that was from his mom to his dad stating that his real mom is a black woman. Chopin 's short story "Désirée 's Baby" shows how judging people, being arrogant and selfish, and the consequences of racism could ultimately lead to the destruction of Désirée 's family.

“Desiree’s Baby” provides insight into the application of the hypodescent rule in plantation-era Louisiana, depicting individuals of mixed race who are marked and assigned to the subordinate social group. In her short story, “Desiree’s Baby,” Kate Chopin addresses the practice as it was applied to the “one-drop rule,” the notion that an individual with white complexion may be deemed black by society given the presence of any African ancestry. Desiree, the story’s protagonist, is eloquently placed at the intersection of the two races, victimized in order to highlight the flaws and inadequacies of the rule. Desiree’s ultimate removal from white society and possible death may indicate a text working to criticize racial prejudice; however,

Love lacks the internal power when self-love and ego become more central to humans. Desiree’s Baby, written by Kate Chopin is a story that reflects on the time when reputation was known to be more important than family. Chopin effectively shows that social status plays a vital role in how we see ourselves and other individuals through racism, reputation, and genders. The author efficiently shows the difference between the unequal treatment between white and black people. In addition, the short story investigates the battle of a man's pride surpassing the love he has for his family and race.

     In Kate Chopin’s short story, “Desiree’s Baby”, she demonstrates how racism played a major part in people’s lives in the 1800’s. Kate Chopin is extremely successful in getting her readers to feel disturbed by the events in the story. Through words and images, the reader feels touched by the story, either by relating to it at some points or when confronted with things we frequently decide to ignore in the world: the evil some human beings are capable of possessing.

Throughout time, humans struggled with issues of conformity and individuality. In the modern world, individuality is idealized, as it is associated with strength. Weak individuals are usually portrayed as conforming to society and having almost no personal ideas. In “Desiree’s Baby”, a short story, the author Kate Chopin deals with the struggles of African descendants in the French colonies during the time of slave labor. The protagonist is a white woman named Desiree who is of unknown origin and birth as she was found abandoned as an infant at an aristocrat’s doorstep. Eighteen years after her discovery, she and a fellow aristocrat, Armand Aubigny, fall in love and get married. They soon have a child, yet conflict arises when the child

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.

Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby is a short story about a girl named Desiree who is abandoned, then adopted into a wealthy family. Young Desiree soon grows up and falls in love with a slave owner, Armand,with whom she conceives a son with only to discover that her child's appearance consists of African descent characteristics. Chopin narrates the issues of oppression and loss of identity during a historical period of time through Desiree’s character. Derek Foster and Kris LeJeune's critique, focusing on the feminist standpoint of Desiree’s Baby, attempts to demonstrates how Desiree’s act to flee into the bayou is her first accomplishment of independence.