Foreshadowing In Desiree's Baby By Kate Chopin

During the 1800s, being African American was not something everybody desired. African American men, women and children were all facing harsh discrimination. White supremacy was prevalent during this time. If the one drop rule applied to you during the 1800s, success was impossible. The one drop blood rule was a rule people in the 1800s used to determine if you were considered black or not. Charles Chesnutt “The Wife of His Youth” and Kate Chopin “Desiree’s Baby” were two stories that touch on life for African-Americans during this time. These short stories were written during the harsh years of slavery. These stories both have important themes that people should pay attention to. The way society thinks of someone, is often how people begin to think of themselves. In both “The Wife of His Youth” and “Desiree’s Baby,” the main characters both struggles with self-hatred because of how society feels about African American people.

One of the many short stories by Kate Chopin is “Desiree’s Baby.” In this story, Desiree was found as a toddler under the shadow of a stone pillar by Monsieur Valmonde. He and his wife took the child in and years later, under the same shadow of the stone pillar, Desiree met her husband, Armand Aubigny. Not long after marriage, they had a child. Soon after the baby was born, Armand uncharacteristically became nice to all around him including his slaves. Soon after he began to notice that the baby 's complexion became darker and made the assumption that the child is not his or his wife was of mixed race. The sad truth of the situation was received when he soon later discovered he was the one of mixed race, he then regretted telling his wife to leave with the baby (Chopin). Kate Chopin uses the different characters to create a storyline that the conflict of the story has ironic. (LitCharts)

“Desiree’s Baby” is a short story written by Kate Chopin. In “Desiree’s Baby,” Desiree is found by the Valmonde’s family, not knowing what her origin was, they took her in. Desiree grew into a gentle and loving young woman. The young owner of the neighboring plantation, Armand Aubigny, fell in love with her at first sight. Armand Aubigny and Desiree got married and had a child together.As the child was three months old, Desiree notice a difference in Armands behaviour, he was distancing from Desiree and the child. Desiree was getting axitions and mad of what was Armand behavior thoughts her and the child. Desiree was sad and wrote to Madame Valmonde. Madame Valmonde told her to come home with her child. Desiree talks to Armand if she is allowed to go back home. 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 Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby” one will notice Chopin’s well known use of racism and local color in the story. With the story taking place in the deep South prior to the Civil War the reader will start to notice racism being incorporated into the story. Chopin uses this theme to show how crooked some people’s morals are in this time period. As a reader, you will notice the impact racism has in the everyday life .Many decisions were impacted do to thought of blacks being inferior to whites. When reading Kate Chopin’s “ Desiree’s Baby” the reader will be introduced racism and the use of local color all throughout the story.

“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. When she finally saw the baby, she felt odd about the child’s appearance. Soon, things took a turn and the people of L’Abri started to think differently about the child. Armand did not like the fact that the child looked at though it was from African American ancestry and shunned both the infant and Desiree. After things become too much to handle for Desiree, Armand banished her and the baby to never be seen again in the town.

The author uses descriptions like “in that Jamaican schoolroom” (ln 5). This allows the reader to picture the setting that Allison’s mother was being taught in. The author uses the words. “ dark, sun-ripened skin” (ln. 11), to describe the color of her mothers and the other school children’s skin color. The author uses these words to get the point across that these black Jamaican children were being taught by white British teachers.

During the Civil War, women and slaves were the most oppressed beings in the world. African Americans were looked down upon and seen as a lesser human only because of the color of their skin. Likewise, women were looked down upon only because society said they were to be. In Desirée’s Baby, Desirée has a child, and as the child grows, Desirée notices a change in her baby that changes her entire life. She was watching her baby one day when she noticed that her baby was not of pure caucasian descent and, “the blood turned like

With the denial of his past and of his race, comes hatred and racism into Armand’s heart and actions. This goes hand and hand with the denial aspect with the usage of characterization from Chopin’s part. Racism ran high in most people’s characteristics of this time because Chopin put this story’s in pre-Civil War times. With the treatment of his slaves, you can really see how Armand feels about others from the race that he sees as less than, even though he is really one of them. The substandard treatment of Armand’s slaves only stops once Desiree gives birth to the baby, but when there was a chance of Desiree being of an African descent, Armand sent her and their child away without thought, saying “Yes, I want to go” with no emotion showing in his voice or actions (3).

“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 parents disagreed to their marriage and didn 't let their daughter leave and ruren the name of the family. So Desiree and Armand left regardless to what her parents say and got a home that can be described as a sad looking place. As time went on living by themselves Desiree had found out that she was pregnant. When Armand found out he was filled with joy and excitement. When

“And yet the mere fact of her racial history causes Armand to reject her and the baby, to cease to see her as the woman he loves and instead to see her as simply black and therefore beneath him”(Champlin 1). Even though Armand once loved Desiree, it all changed just because of her background. Desiree’s finds out her baby is mixed, Armand tells her to leave because she brought shame to his family name. “And yet the mere fact of her racial history causes Armand to reject her and the baby, to cease to see her as the woman he loves and instead to see her as simply black and therefore beneath him”(Champlin 1). Even though Armand once loved Desiree, it all changed just because of her

In Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby, an adopted girl named Desiree falls in love, marries into a wealthy family, and ends up having a child seeming to contain African descent. She is scorned for this from her once loving, now hateful husband, and is basically forced to leave, her child along with her. At the end of the story, Desiree’s husband, Armand, learns through a letter from his mother to his father that he is the one that actually bears the African descent. Desiree was only blamed for this because of the fact that she was adopted and did not know who she belonged to. It was not even considered that Armand had African blood because he came from a respected family.

Desiree’s Baby is a short story by Kate Chopin. “Desiree’s Baby” takes place before the Civil War in a time when black people were neglected and mistreated by the whites. Desiree was abandoned and left behind by her parents when she was a toddler by a big stone pillar. She was found and declared adopted by Madame and Monsieur Valmonde. Armand a man that was really harsh to blacks falls in love with Desiree and gets married with her without knowing anything about her ancestry. They end up having a kid but the boy turns out to be not white. Armand angry and upset kicks out both Desiree and her baby because of her mixed race. That night, Armand burns all of Desiree’s possessions. While doing this, he finds a letter that his mother wrote to his

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. To the readers, this can be ironic because the drawer that the letter was in, had been opened several times before by Armand when he would put the letters Desiree had written him in there. The readers learn that Armand now knows the truth about his past, but is too scared to be honest with himself and others around him. “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,

“Desiree’s Baby” is a twisted and heart wrenching story that takes place during a time of great racial inequality. The Devil seems to be very busy throughout the world as he escalates situations and spews lies into the thoughts of men, tearing them from their beloved families. The story “Desiree’s Baby” summons up a very saddening irony that the prejudiced Armand learns that it was his mixed parentage and not that of his wife which produced their mixed-race child whom he detested and rejected.

“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. People who see the baby have the sense it is different. Eventually they realize that the baby 's skin is the same color as a quadroon, the baby has African ancestry. Because of Désirée 's unknown parents, Armand immediately assumes that she is part black. Désirée denies the accusation. Armand, scornful of Désirée, rejects her and insists that she leaves. She takes their child and walks off into a bayou, never to be seen again. Armand burns all of the letters that she had sent him during their courtship. With this bundle of letters is also one written from his mother to his father, saying, “ 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 “ (5) revealing that Armand is the one who is part black, by his mother 's ancestry (Chopin). The symbolism in a short story is a person, place, or thing that represents something beyond itself, most often something concrete or tangible that represents an abstract idea.(Glossary…2) Kate Chopin’s use of symbol help develop the themes in