Surely, only an opposing, selfish, and insensitive person could send their wife and child away upon realizing that they both were mixed race. In Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby”, however, protagonist, Desiree, is altered over just a few days as she goes from being thankful from the happiness of her husband and baby into saddened and betrayed by her lover. The story eventfully shows how racism and denial both play a part in the way the future may turn out. From the time that the story begins, one can see that the love between Armand and Desiree is what they say to be a dream come true. It’s the love that everyone asks for. This is shown when Kate writes, “He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?”(Chopin. Par 1). This shoes that Armand wanted to love Desiree and give her what she needed. Monsieur Valmondé gave Armand a chance to explore more into …show more content…
This is shown when Armand’s mother writes, ‘“night and day, 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,”’(Chopin. Par 6). This shows how Armand was racially mixed himself. Armand's mother's words show the degree to which the American racial tension has conquered even the black mind. She considers her race “cursed with the brand of slavery” (Chopin. Par 6), and she is quite glad that her own child will never find out that his mother was black. The slave mindset runs deep in everyone's thoughts that the understanding of how to appropriately distinguish and process their status, their value, and their humanity of blacks and whites. Racism not only operates in the white society against blacks, but among blacks themselves. They have internally made differences that in fact end up damaging white men like Armand
Also, when he states “Ah, upon another face perhaps it might, but never yours,” he is telling her that he thought her face was perfect without it, and that an unperfect face would look good with it. By telling his wife that she is not beautiful because of a birthmark, he is showing that he has authority over his wife’s life because her life affects him, depicting that he has complete control in their relationship. Armand also has a negative reaction towards Désirée. Désirée had just given birth to their son, and when both Armand and Désirée realize one of them is not fully white, because their son is not white, Armand explains, ““It means,” he answered lightly, “that the child is not white; it means that you are not white”” (Chopin, 3, Introduction).
Armand’s father had brought him home from paris, when he was eight, after his mother died. He came from a wealthy family. According to the Armand’s father thought of Desiree didn’t seem like he was happy because the way he grew up, he wanted someone from the same wealth as them. After they had gotten married and they were expecting a baby, the day had come of the birth of the child Mrs. Valmonde was surprised about the baby when she saw it because perhaps the kid didn’t look like one of the parent’s. “ Marriage, and later the birth of his so had softened Armand Aubigny’s imperious and exacting nature greatly.”
In the short story “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, A woman named Desiree supposedly takes the life of herself and her child after “discovering” that she is biracial, and that her child is also of mixed race. Although, in the end of the story, we discover that the baby’s father, Armand, is really the biracial parent, it still seems logical to remember the story as if Desiree were biracial, since that is what both she and Armand believed, up until the very end. Many believe that Desiree’s decision to kill herself and her child was justified, because of the shame and ridicule that would come to the child, and the fact that she herself believed that neither her nor the child would have a happy future. Many believe that Desiree’s actions were justified because of the few options she seemed to have at the time, and the fact that all she could think about was how shameful she felt for being biracial, and
Many societies have projected an image that may not hold true to the reality. Due to the stigma around the common traits of the house Slytherins are often portrayed as inherently evil. The Wizarding World’s misconception about this house has led to a strong bias against those who find their home in the ‘dark’ house. The different societies and their unrealistic visions exist in books, like Harry Potter, movies, and other forms of entertainment. Two books that give examples of this are The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin explore the explicit and implicit viewpoints that people, cultures, or societies will project an image that differs from their realities.
The irony of this short story was that it was Armand who was of mixed raced and not his wife. He was the one who tainted the baby, he found out after fining a letter from his beloved mother that was written to his father (Chopin). Irony is a surprising interesting twist at the end on a story. I am sure that after he read this letter that he soon figured out why his father was so kind to the slaves and how it was wrong of him to treat his wife the way he did and immediately regretted his choices. Thus, she was no longer there and he could not get her back, he thought she went back to live with her stepmother, and if he goes to look for her or the stepmother went to look for her and the child they would both find that Desiree never went to her original destination.
Desiree says good-bye to Armand and goes to the deserted field with her child and never came back. Armand was burning all of Desiree’s and the child’s materials into the bonfire. Then he found some letters from Desiree, but one was from his mother to his father, the letter said that she was grateful that Armand would never find out his mother was of slave heritage (Chopin). In “Desiree’s Baby, “ Kate Chopin uses imagery, foreshadowing and allusion to develop the ominos, mystery and sad story.
In “ Desiree’s Baby” and “ The Story of An Hour” written by Kate Chopin the audience analyzes the themes of love and marriage presented by the author in a unique style that is different from other authors during this time period. The similarities that the two short stories address include both of the women who happen to be young wives living under a male dominated culture as well as being under the control of their husbands whom they loved. However, the themes of the two stories are different. In “Desiree’s Baby” the theme portrays cruelty that is expressed through racial prejudice as well as being “blinded” by the ones you love, as compared to “ The Story of An Hour” which gives the reader a chance to explore the issue of forbidden joy in independence, and oppressiveness in marriage.
Armand was supposedly having an affair with La Blanche, one of the family’s slaves. This is form of racism because having an affair is unacceptable in the first place, but if anyone knew that Armand was having an affair with a black woman, it would have been the end. Armand wanted to keep everything under wrap and under his complete control. Whether this is a form of misleading the reader to think this or not, Chopin hinted that there was some cracks in the marriage of Armand and Desiree. Irony and foreshadowing and maybe even examples of misleading the reader are used to show how racist Armand can be and the way this racism causes him to act in general and towards
“Desiree’s Baby” is a short story by Kate Chopin. “Desiree’s baby” is a story about a family in the era where the colored were neglected and treated poorly. Desiree was abandoned and left as a baby. When she was adopted she grew up in a very wealthy family. Armand and Desiree have known each other ever since they were little so when they grew up they got married.
“Desiree’s Baby was written by Kate Chopin and she talks about the issues people had back then with racism and gender. She demonstrated those problems by using literary devices such as symbols, conflict, and irony. I advise everyone to read this story for the fact this kind of conflict is still happening today and we need to work together for a change. Overall this was a great story and it teaches you many great lessons. Take a look
During the era in which this short story was written, southern authors had a major influence on the way the culture was going to grow with racism, and also the way people loved each other. Kate Chopin, a traditional author who believed in southern ways, exemplifies how race and the characteristics of conditional love played a role in her story. In “Desiree’s Baby,” the author, Kate Chopin, provides an illustration of conditional love exemplified by the character, Armand, towards his wife and child; furthermore, Chopin provides instances of irony, elements of surprise, foreshadowing, and symbolism to prove that Armand’s love for both of them was not the unconditional love typically felt and portrayed by women, such as Desiree, during this era. Throughout the story, the readers notice different times where Chopin uses elements of surprise. One major surprise is when Armand opens the letter from his mother and finds out that he has African American in his bloodline.
“Desiree’s Baby”, is a short story written by Kate Chopin. This short story is about a woman named Desiree, abandoned at a very young age, who grew up to fall in love with Armand Aubigny. Armand was born into a very wealthy family, who fell in love easily, very strict and owners of slaves. Desiree then conceived Armand’s child, who instantly changed the way he thought once the child was born. Desiree’s mother, Madame Valmonde, was scheduled to see the baby in L’Abri since she had not seen it in four weeks.
“Desiree’s Baby” is a short story written by Kate Chopin. Désirée is the adopted daughter of Monsieur and Madame Valmondé. Abandoned as a baby, she was found by Monsieur Valmondé lying in the shadow of a stone pillar near the Valmondé gateway. She is courted by the son of another wealthy, well known and respected family, Armand. They marry and have a child.
Desiree’s baby in the story plays a crucial part in Armand’s life for the few months they were together. “Oh, Armand is the proudest father in the parish, I believe, chiefly because it is
He hardly knew Desiree, yet he married her anyway and had a son. Another literary device that is used in “Desiree’s Baby” is situational and dramatic irony. For example, like Jeniffer Smith states in Short Stories for Students that “ Several critics of “Desiree’s Baby” have charged that the ending is a trick ending, or an O. Henry ending, so-named after the short story writer famous for the reversals that came at the end of his stories”(Smith 73). Chopin is well known for using these endings in her stories. Just like in the “Story of an Hour” Chopin uses situational irony to keep the reader entertained and to shock the reader in the end.