Desiree's Baby Thesis

Racism between the cotton pickers and Armand was clearly present. The slave of darker pigmentation was outside working in the field. Zandrine and La Blanche’s son had a light complexion and were allowed to do work in the home. Armand treatment of the slaves indicated that he look at them more as a possession than black human beings (Cummings). Armand conviction of Desiree race was racist. Armand went to the extremes of abandoning his wife and child conveys acts of racial discrimination towards the blacks.

Differences between people create conflicts between people.  This is especially true between men and women, since throughout history society has viewed women as subservient to men.  Kate Chopin’s feminist short story, Desiree’s Baby, illustrates man’s domination over woman.  Since Desiree meekly accepts being ruled by Armand, and Armand regards Desiree as his possession, the master/slave relationship that exists between Armand and Desiree is undeniable.

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 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 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.”

Chopin Shows that back then race was everything. It meant so much that people would consider you subhuman or worthless if u had any in your blood line, it also ruined relationships and caused the feeling of disgrace. Armand took this serious he was the typical stereotype. Armand was the master of the L'Abri plantation; he was a strict master who treated the slaves cruel. So much that, the narrator says, “The negroes had forgotten how to be gay.” So you can imagine the thought of him finding out his child was of color. When he found out all hell broke loose. He wanted no parts of Desiree or the baby after finding out. He even said it was Desiree’s fault because she has some Negro blood in her. Desiree’s reaction was priceless instead of fighting for her baby and herself; she just felt disgrace and couldn’t believe she would have some Negro blood in her. She even says it’s a lie, gives her whole

When thinking of American authors that have always received great praise, one might not think of Kate Chopin. Nevertheless, in the literary world, Kate Chopin is one of those authors highly commended, treasured, and spoken about, but that always was not the case. In her time of writing, the works she published did not go without severe judgement. With her wide array of literary devices, Chopin’s style of writing hinted at things such as adultery or slavery, which were highly taboo subjects during her time; however, as times have changed her works have become of a higher value in the realm of literary works. In the story of Desiree’s Baby, Chopin not only uses forms of foreshadowing and irony to show the emptiness of Desiree and Armand’s broken

The story, Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin takes places in the late 19th Century in Louisiana, where racial separation and inequality is very prevalent. The white landowners are often in a family whose name equates to high status. The African American’s are slaves to the landowners and are often whipped and beaten during their work. They hold no status and this is solely due to the fact of their race. In Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby, it is evident that race and social identity is equated directly with character status in this time period, as shown through Armand’s changes in behavior when the baby is born, as well as Desiree’s fall of status with her new baby.

Armand chose to read his mother’s letter while he was on his way to burn his wife’s espousal letters and that was when in the story, Armand was revealed as African. This also can be interpreted both ways, he either knew his origins and not acknowledged it deliberately or just now discovered the truth. His mother wrote; “Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery," (Chopin 7). That brought situational irony because of how the letter appeared just after his wife and child were rejected by him and Desiree drowned her and the son. Dee’s mother demonstrated her daughter’s rebellion from their heritage in this excerpt: “She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two… and ignorant underneath her voice.

The conflict in the story then makes its turning point and becomes a crisis. Desiree tried her hardest to prove to Armand that she was all white, but no matter what she said Armand’s malicious behavior made her think otherwise. Just because Desiree was adopted and did not know any better Armand assumes she was black. She even compares the pigmentations of their skin, which proves her to be of a lighter color than Armand, and he sees it with his own eyes, but he continues to blame

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

In late 19th century Louisiana, sexism and racism are highly prevalent in society. An orphaned child, Desiree, falls in love with Armand who is the owner of a plantation. After they marry, Desiree gives birth to a boy who will carry on Armand’s name. When it shows that the boy has dark skin, Armand’s pride hinders his love for his family. Kate Chopin displays the theme of pride through the use of color, conflict and imagery in her short story “Desiree’s Baby”.

Kate Chopin was considered by some literary scholars as one of the earliest feminist writers in her country. She was a writer and thinker far ahead of her time. She has written a short story known as Désirée’s Baby that was created during the antebellum period. It demonstrates how racism in the 1800’s played a major part in people’s lives. In Désirée’s Baby, Kate Chopin includes themes of race and racism, some irony, and uses independent women as a primary center of attention.

The story, “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin offers insight on racial prejudice as well as class distinction in Southern America during the late 1800s. Desiree, a new mother is accused of having slave blood by her husband, who treated slaves poorly. The irony of the situation is that Desiree was not the one who had an ancestry of slaves, but it was her husband, Armand. This story offers both an interesting plot as well as factual elements that can be related to the history at the time, making it the perfect story to teach in American Literature.

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.