Judgment In Desiree's Baby By Kate Chopin

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 story Desiree’s Baby is about a young woman who is adopted by a two wealthy french creoles that live in Louisiana. Monsieur and Madame Valmonde adopted Desiree when she was found as a young infant by a pillar near the gate of their estate. The story then follows Desiree as she matures into a young woman and is married to a man named Armand whom which she loves very much. Armand and desiree soon have a child and both are extremely happy about the child but Armand soon pulls away both his compassion and happiness when he see’s something wrong with the child. Armand realises that the child is has some black in it, which happens to be the skin color of slavery. Shamed Armand blames Desiree for his child being part black seeing that Desiree’s

In the short story, Desiree’s Baby, written by Kate Chopin there is a about of karma and consequences that produce the drama on the literature. The story shows many problems of a man’s pride overcoming the love he has for his wife and race. The determination of this story is to examine and find why Armand’s arrogance was bigger and more than the love for his wife, Desiree and how race changed everything.

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.”

“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,

disappointment. It was a decade classified as the "roaring twenties." Men returning from World War I had to deal with unemployment, wheat farmers and oil companies were striking it rich, new modern conveniences were being thought up, and fashion was a major issue among the rich.

In the story, Desiree’s Baby written by Kate Chopin, Armand was angry with Desiree because their baby was mixed. He believed she had black in her but by the end of the story, he had found a letter from his mother, the letter had said that Armand didn’t know that his mother came from a black family. Desiree had left Armand with the baby and drowned in a swamp. Since Desiree had the baby, she noticed how Armand started to change, she became discourteous and abroad towards her.

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

“Désirée’s Baby” is a story of love, prejudice and rejection, a story with noble beginnings that

Desiree's life is full of indescribable and pitiful events; first, she was lift alone when she was a baby, nameless and no one knows who her family are - this generally refers to the personality of a woman which is, metaphorically, has no presence in the society. Moreover, throughout the story no decision is made by her but

Desiree has a genuine love for people. She is the wife of a slave owner but is saddened by the cruelty inflicted on the slaves by her husband. After the birth of her their son, Armand grows kinder and is not harsh to the slaves. She whispers to her mother “he hasn’t punished one of them, not one since the baby is born” (540). Desiree loves her husband unconditionally, despite his occasional negative behavior. She also loves her son despite the negative murmurings from others. She is an individual who loves others despite the ultimate betrayal from her husband, Armand. I can identify with Desiree because I am a person who loves family. I enjoy helping others, and sometimes my efforts go unappreciated. Loving others and providing assistance does not mean your efforts/deeds will be appreciated or reciprocated. I cannot change my personality or my desire to help others. My desire to help others is what makes me what I have become, a good man.

In “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, Chopin describes a story of an older woman, Madame Valmondé, coming to see her daughter, Desiree, who is married Armand Aubigny, and her baby. Mme. Valmondé, at first, is astonished at the appearance of the baby. Later, the baby herself shocks because of its dark appearance. Desiree later asks Armand why the baby is black. Then, Armand gets very angry, because Armand, a person who perceives he is of European race, has realized that he is the father to a black baby. Armand goes on to accuse Desiree of being black and being the cause of this perceived imperfection. A very distressed Desiree asks for Mme. Valmondé for help. Mme.

Sometimes the hardest thing for an individual to do is taking a stance against the culture they live in, and sometimes the people who take the stance are underappreciated. Sadly, this is story of a talented writer named Kate Chopin; who took a stance against her environment with her writing, most notably in her short story, “Desiree’s Baby”. Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby” uses the themes of naturalism, realism, and the usage of irony to expose the hypocrisy of racism.

Desiree?s words show that her life depends on the race, notions, and social class of her husband and consequently, she feels obligated to obey his every desire. Desiree is presented as vulnerable to whatever Armand wants and tells her to do when she says, ?Do you want me to go?? (177). Desiree displays through her actions that in many ways, her happiness only comes from pleasing her husband. Therefore, Desiree must decide whether to live completely separate from Armand, or to live with him in constant fear and unpleasantness. Desiree achieves personal freedom and independence from Armand when ?she disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thing along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou; she did not come back again? (177). It is not even an option and is unheard of that Armand, being a male holding a respectable background, could possibly be black. Consequently, Desiree feels compelled to leave because she wants to please him. When Desiree decides to kill herself and her child, she shows that she is sensitive and vulnerable to her husband?s thoughts and actions.

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.