Kate Chopin’s Short Story Desiree’s Baby Essay example

In “Desiree Baby”, author, Chopin emphasizes racism by selecting certain words to symbolize the association between light and darkness, and the slaves on the plantation.

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

In the beginning of the story, Armand and Desiree’s love seems to pure, strong, and absolutely unconditional. When Chopin describes how Armand fell in love with Desiree, she states that he fell in love “as if struck by a pistol shot...The passion that awoke him that day...swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles(1).” Such wording indicates that the love of Desiree and Armand was a love meant to withstand all obstacles. However, during the time that Armand was convinced that Desiree was black after seeing the complexion of their baby, his love for her evaporates, having been replaced by his disgust with Desiree’s dubious background and his excessive worry about the negative opinions of others. His character returns to its original state, for there was “a strange, awful change in her husband’s manner...When he spoke to…(Desiree), 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, without excuse. And the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slavery(2).” The reason he suddenly despised her was simply and selfishly “because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name(4).” The invincible love that was originally introduced to readers ceased to exist, as this love, this powerful, insurmountable love, was a conditional love the whole time. Desiree is thoroughly shocked by this treacherous betrayal and loss of loyalty. Split apart by the pain of this shame and heartbreak, “she disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again(4).” In an

This essay will focus on the short story by Kate Chopin and its use of symbols, setting and characters. Desiree’s baby was perhaps one of the best stories I’ve ever read. Analyzing it was not easy at all. Its use of symbols was very hard to comprehend. At first, it doesn’t make sense. But as you think critically, all the symbols, and setting and the characters in this literature plunge together in one amazing story.

The story by Kate Chopin called Desiree’s Baby (1894) focuses on the slavery days of America. It takes place during Antebellum in Creole Louisiana. Kate Chopin’s purpose in this story is to show how too much emphasis on skin and racial heritage could destroy a loving family. Lying is never an okay thing to do, especially during the days when race could make or break you. Armand’s parents did wrong by lying to Armand, making him believe he was white. This caused the self-destruction of his family, owning with harsh treatment of slaves and lived a life as someone he never was to begin with.

This essay will focus on the short story by Kate Chopin and its use of symbols, setting and characters. Desiree’s baby was perhaps one of the best stories I’ve ever read. Analyzing it was not easy at all. Its use of symbols was very hard to comprehend. At first, it doesn’t make sense. But as you think critically, all the symbols, and setting and the characters in this literature plunge together in one amazing story.

In the fictional story “Desiree’s Baby”, written by Kate Chopin, An orphaned girl named Desiree falls in love with a rich, well known, slave owner names Armand. Everything was going swell at the beginning until their child ages a few months and Armand realizes his son is from the forbidden color and his name is going to be dragged in the dirt for it. Armand’s careless actions foreshadows the theme of love should supersede any prejudice or racist ideology to develop an engaging plot. Early in the story, the reader learns that Desiree is an orphan; she was left lying asleep in the shadow of a big stone pillar as an infant.

In the short story Desiree's baby written by Kate Chopin what should be a happy and proud time takes a huge turn for the worst when it appears that the baby the baby is of another ethnicity. Although Desiree is madly in love with Armand he is not worthy of her love. Chopin also mentions in the beginning that Desiree not having a prominent name was not important to Armand. An analysis of Chopin's story and her use of the themes love, racism, and identity to express women and minorities oppression during her time. One of the first themes she mentions at the start is love.

In Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby,” we see themes of love and betrayal scattered throughout the text. We are shown images that represent these themes in different ways, but these images showcase what it meant to live in rural Louisiana at that time. Because of the way Chopin wrote this text, we are able to evaluate what love meant in this time period and discover the thin line between love and betrayal, and how racism plays into these images.

Kate Chopin’s short story “Désirée's Baby” illustrates the consequences of racism through the language which she uses throughout the story. Not only does Chopin’s profound use of imagery in regards to the the distinction of black and white throughout the story describe the protagonist and antagonist, but she foreshadows many times over of the events to come. In the end, without racial prejudice and the shame it generates, the story’s tragedy would never have unfolded. “Désirée's Baby,” a short story by Kate Chopin takes place in the Bayou country of Louisiana before the Civil War. Although she does not directly state that in the story, several details from the story support this setting, such as the story’s theme and the inclusion of plantations, slaves, and French vernaculars.

In the short story written by Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby” takes place after the civil war in Louisiana. The story starts off with a character named Madame Valmonde who is driving over to L’Abri to see Desiree, who is her adopted daughter who had just gave birth to a baby boy. Desiree is married to a man named Armand who is racist to African Americans and owns his own plantation. Armand is happy that he has a baby boy, he changes his perspective about life with everything changing and going well, he doesn’t realize his son is African American. The story features Love, Mystery, Racism and Prejudice in which it involves Armand and Desiree. Desiree believed her life will be joyful and filled with happiness once her baby is born and that Armand will love his family truly. Armand is filled with enthusiasm once this wonderful thing happened in his life. He became blinded by love in which he did not let his racist perspectives overpower his feelings for his family. Kate story shows the reader that one of the main characters is lost in a life filled with hatred and love.

Kate Chopin’s “The Locket” and “Desiree’s Baby” are two stories where heart-rending news changed main characters ' lives. In the beginning of the both stories love between couples is described. Desiree is happy being wife and mother to newborn male baby while in "the Locket" Edmond is constantly thinking about his sweetheart Octavie. Both stories touch different sides of love, which appears fortunate in "the Locket", but destructive in "Desiree 's Baby". In “Desiree’s Baby”, Armand begins distancing himself from his wife and son because he notices the baby is black. In “The Locket”, Octavie is trying to deal with grief to her beloved soldier because she got the locket she gave to Edmond back in the mail, indicating his death. Both stories have unexpectedly shocking endings: in "The Locket" it turns out to be astonishingly happy one, while in "Desiree 's Baby" the ending is devastating. Skillfully using similar literary elements in both stories, Chopin represents different outlooks on life for the audience by enriching them with astonishing endings.

In ‘Desiree’s Baby,” Kate Chopin’s use of characterization, symbols, and conflict to develop this short story. The characterization used in this short story are Desiree and Madame Aubigny which create the most excitement in “Desiree’s Baby.” Desiree

The end to this story enhances Chopin’s explanation because once she finds out that her husband is not dead it puts her in so big of a shock that she dies herself. The story gives a reason for her death which said, “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills”( para, 23).

“Désirée’s Baby”, a short story written by Kate Chopin, delves straightaway into serious matters- one such example is the racial and gender injustices that occurred during the era of slavery. The plot follows the life of a young woman, Désirée, from her mysterious and unknown origins to being the wife of a wealthy aristocrat. Her life is suddenly shattered when she realizes that, to her horror, her son’s features resemble the ones of the “race that is cursed with the brand of slavery”. Chopin uses many literary devices throughout her text, such as setting, symbolism, theme, and irony to illustrate to her readers how inherent prejudices, be they of race or gender, negatively affect all factions involved in the respective affair, rather than only those deemed inferior.