In Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby, Chopin uses a story of an established American family to criticize the role racism has in the 19th century. The idolization of whiteness and what this represents leads the Aubigny family to their destruction. The story becomes realistic by its presentation of the characters as well as the reactions they have to finding out they are not part of the American ideal. Chopin uses her language and the plausibility of the story to create a shocking effect to readers and discuss issues of miscegenation and how it had its effect on the characters involved. The characters are ones that could have existed in Louisiana during the 19th century and are very probable to have experienced issues involving the children of slaves …show more content…
However, if the mother was pale and the child was not, the roles could be very different. In the case of Desiree, Armand wanted nothing to do with her and wished for her to leave the house. He could not believe his wife was not as pure as he and wanted to get rid of her sins from his home once she was gone. He knew very well that Desiree had no name, no background, and no story beyond the one give to her, but agreed to be with her when she was white. With the questioning of her whiteness, all love for her disappeared and he could only see her as tainted. Armand felt betrayed and couldn’t even look at his own wife “because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name” (1075). Rather quickly, Armand no longer acts sweet and happy because of an observation he makes with the birth of his child. He sees the babies skin and starts to speculate that there is something wrong. When he realized his own son was darker than he …show more content…
As such, she has more power over people of color and can afford the luxuries life has presented her with. Though La Blanche was as pale as she, the two lived very different lives and would continue to do so because of the society that brought them up. This brings forward the accuracy of the story by showing Desiree’s power and why she would want so badly to prove she was white. If she was anything but, she would no longer be able to afford the luxuries she does and would be treated as nothing more than property for someone to abuse. However, Desiree still falls victim to the power structure of the time and her lack of power as a woman and her untraceable history leaves her victim to Armand’s decision. He determines both of their fates as he is forced to “confront the contradiction [in Desiree] he ignored in La Blanche” (Peel 227). This “calls attention to the paradoxes that result from miscegenation and the one-drop rule. La Blanche and Desiree look white but are considered black”, but “Armand – whose hand looks darker than theirs – is considered white” (Peel 227). As he has more power than the two women, Armand gets the last say in how they should be treated and provides no explanation. His own understanding of their circumstances is enough for him to say how white or black they really
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 “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
(176). It becomes apparent that Armand?s actions and words greatly affect Desiree when she says, ?My mother, they tell me I am not white? (176). Desiree?s powerless situation can in many ways be blamed for her unresolved uncertainty about her racial identity.
Blanche a female slave who is whiter than her master, Armand, is his slave because of her known African background. Armand’s action can also be classified as naturalistic. At-first he treats his family with love. After discovering his son’s background, Armand lets the society views on race to take over his actions with his family, sealing all their fates.
Yet it is not until Armand believes that Desiree is black that he fully dominates her simply by thinking that he is superior. At this point, “when he spoke to her, it was with averted eyes, from which the old love-light seemed to have gone out” (317). Armand feels that he is too superior to Desiree to devote his full attention to her. Since he no longer expresses his love for Desiree, she feels further pushed into a slave-like position in the relationship, and, “was miserable enough to die” (318).
What sets Desirée apart in terms of her subjugation by Armand? It is not race, but the lack thereof. Desirée is unable to hide anything about herself because her origins are unknown (Chopin 401). She is a willing captive to Armand as a result of her love and her marriage, but she is not an unwilling captive to race; she is an unwilling captive to her otherness. She does not have doubts about her race, but must live with the reality that “Armand has told me I am not white” (Chopin 404). Because her origins are unknown and she does not have a name, she must acquiesce to the whims of Armand, who had at first decided to be unconcerned about “the girl’s obscure origins” (Chopin 401). Armand is the power here. He makes all of the decisions regarding the lives of those within his circle of power, and he does so because he is allowed to do so. Madam
The characters of Desiree and Armand are opposites of each other. Armand cares more for his name and status than the love of a woman who cares deeply for him. He doesn’t see or doesn’t care that his relationship with Desiree goes deeper than the color of his child’s skin. He
The sense that Armand is so proud of himself is like a hint of how the end will turn out because when we realize that the child is black the reader automatically knows that he is going to blame his wife. Never would he consider himself black. The thought of Armand being black never crosses the reader’s mind either. Kate Chopin also deceived the reader into thinking that Désirée is in fault by
It turns out the baby is of mixed blood and because of this, he shuns his wife and the child he was so proud of only days before. “He absented himself from home and when there, avoided her presence and that of her child, without excuse.”(317). Armand was “the proudest father in the parish…it is a boy to bear his name.”(317). Additionally, he accuses Désirée of not being white (a crime against his family’s “purity”) which she adamantly denies. “It is a lie it is not true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown and my eyes are gray, Armand you know they are gray. And my skin is fair,” “Look at my hand whiter than yours, Armand,”(318). She writes to her adopted mother and tells her of what is happening. Her mother tells her to return home with the child where they will both be loved, but Désirée is so shocked and disheartened she sets off towards a local bayou with the child never to be seen again. Armand has made the decision to lose his family in order to save his name and it’s too late to bring Désirée back. The irony is that the letter read by Armand from his mother reveals to him that it is he who is of mixed blood and not Désirée.
Armand begins to change as the black complexion of his son becomes more clearly recognized discloses that the color of his son was dependent of his love towards him and his wife. Particularly, “When the child darkens, Armand's feelings for Desiree change at the same pistol-shot speed with which he ostensibly fell in love... The callous treatment of his wife upon their baby’s ‘metamorphosis’ suggests he never loved her” (Bauer 142). The speed in which Armand stops loving Desiree makes known that his love for her was conditional and is solely built upon the color of Desiree's skin and blood.
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
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.
Désirées, the wife of a plantation owner, appears to be white and lives to believe that she is white, is drowned with confusion when her baby has a different skin complex. In fear that things will change when she finds out this new set of information, she panics and begins telling herself and her husband, “It is a lie; it is not true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown; and my eyes are gray, Armand, you know they are gray. And my skin is fair. Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand” (2). Although she might not be white to the eye she could have some African American descent in her history. Fingers are pointed to the wife when speaking of having African American descent because men had superiority above women. Race depicts society but so do the boundaries between men and women as men had social authority in the past. During this time, it was considered to be better to be white, so her husband evidently did not want to take blame for their child 's skin color and does not take blame. Furthermore, this new information that was revealed to the wife could mean several things. Back in the 1800’s in society, plantation owners were above African Americans in society. The wife panicked because she knew from that point on her life had the possibility of dramatically changing.
It is a story about a girl who leads a gentle life and adventures into an uncertain fairy tale. It is a story that confronts the meaning of love, a story that may even shed light on sexism, a story of self denial. It is the story of Desiree’s Baby. In this work, Kate Chopin reveals the dark aspects of human nature by the narrative of a young girls journey in life. Kate Chopin’s use of narration, symbolism, and secritism are used throughout the story of “Desiree’s Baby” to guide the audience through the life of a girl who residing in Pre-Civil War Louisiana, and treks on to experience the human tragedies of sexism, conditional love, and self denial.
In the time period that this story was written, a person’s background meant something as a name was a sense of wealth and worth. Since Desiree was adopted, her background was unknown and when Armand decided to marry Desiree he didn’t care because he would give her his name as all he cared about was his affection for her. For a little while all was well in the household. Desiree and Armand were happier than ever, and Armand treated his slaves better. This soon took a drastic turn as everyone noticed that their son had begun to show qualities of a Negro. Once these features were noticed, Armand’s attitude towards his wife and his slaves changed for the worst. In Armand’s eyes Desiree was at fault for giving the child those features since her history was unknown. Even after Desiree gives her husband evidence that she may not be a carrier, she and her child are still banished from the home and sent on their way.