Desiree's Baby Racism

In the early 1800’s the treatment of blacks in America was horrible because of slavery. It caused many countries to turn blind eyes towards the young nation and people in the nation were sometimes disgusted by their southern brethrens treatment of these people(dunaway). The story “Desiree's Baby” is about a adopted child that was named Desiree by a French family. One day a plantation owner who had a child named Armand comes to the home of Desiree with Armand. When Armand sees desiree at the gate of the house he fell in love with her. They have a child who is later discovered of being colored. The husband Armand is angered at the color of the baby and tells Desiree to leave with the baby. When she leaves, she comes to the shocking revelation

His racism is known by the town and by slaves. All around as being a very volatile man and extremely aggressive towards his treatment of blacks.One will notice Armand’s behavior as volatile and cruel. He is known for his racist acts by all on and off his plantation. in the beginning of the story. After the baby was born, Madame Valmonde overheard some people talking about Armand’s previous behavior. The quote “Young Aubigny rule was a strict one too, and under it his negroes had forgotten how to be gay, as they had been during the old masters easy-going and indulgent lifetime” (Chopin 202). The quote had two background people talking about the harsh treatment that was given to them by young Aubigny. Also how things were better in the old master’s stay. The treatment of the slaves on Armand’s plantation is nothing short of cruel and barbaric after he realizes his son is partly black. this change in behavior was noticed by Desiree near the middle of the story. We can tell this when “There was something in the air menacing her peace. It was at first too subtle to grasp….unexpected visits from far-off neighbors who could hardly account for their coming. Then a strange and awful change in her husbands manner.” (Chopin 203). When people saw the baby and realized it was of colored descent, they immediately rejected the baby and that caused neighbors of the plantation to go and state their opinions

This can cause her stories to deal with many problems that she had dealt with. Her family life was turning for the worse. This had been getting worse over a long period of loss for chopin. Her mental health was deteriorating she had made many bad decisions. ” Chopins mother died. She sent frequent request that they should come to St. louis” ( Kate Chopin Authors). this caused her self perception was affected by many family deaths. This sometimes had her stories take a lighter turn but more then once they took a darker turn. This can be seen in “Desiree's Baby” when Armand just kicks desiree out and burns all her stuff. This is a darker turn if you compare her treatment form the beginning of the story to the end. When she had lost her mother she felt the best place to go was where she had wanted them to go the whole time. during Kate Chopin’s life she had married a businessman. He died and Kate took over. This however did not last long as the business went under. This caused economic hardship for her. ”the family moved to the family plantation” ( Kate Chopin Authors). Chopin moved to the plantation with her family. They had not experienced anything like this. They spent most of their life there. She had written many stories from the plantation. Many of them dealing with the issue of slavery. Kate Chopin’s life had affects on her stories and what the conflicts were