In 1892, an author by the name of Kate Chopin 's wrote a story entitled,“Desiree’s Baby.” It was simply written about an adopted girl named Desiree, who married a man named Armand Aubigny. As time passes, they have a son together. Unbeknown to them, their son’s skin tone would reflect how both of them had black ancestors. This would not have posed a problem if the baby was born in a non racist time frame, and if his father was not a slave owner. Several would agree, that the baby of Desiree and Armand is the most sympathetic character from the story because his father chose power over him, and he did not get a chance to live. In the beginning, Armand seems like a decent man. He instantly falls in love with Desiree, despite …show more content…
At one point, Chopin writes, “But Armand’s dark handsome face had not been disfigured by frowns since the day he fell in love with her” (Paragraph 15, Chopin). He was not just happier the moment he married her, but from the moment he saw her. Chopin also mentions how the cruel way he treated his slaves vanished once the baby was born. From this we can see his love for Desiree and even for the baby. This was until, the baby 's real complexion begins to set in at three months. Desiree had a sense that something bad would take place, which was followed by Armand 's distance from her and the baby. In addition to, the revival of his brutal behavior towards the slaves. The passage describes Armand 's new character as though, “the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him,” (Paragraph 16). Which was only a foreshadow of how he would act …show more content…
Desiree made the choice to give into her broken desire of ending her life, and she took her child with her. Unlike Armand, Desiree had an alternative that would have been easy to take. As stated before, once she found out that she was part black, she sent a message to her mother in search of the truth. Her mother replied by saying, “My own Desiree: Come home to Valmonde; back to your mother who loves you. Come with your child” (Paragraph 28). Madame Valmonde knew that Desiree was black from the beginning when it written in paragraph 5 that, “Monsieur grew practical and wanted things well considered: that is, the girls obscure origin.” Although they knew Desiree was black, they still accepted her, and her mother reiterated that through her response in the letter. Desiree just had to open her eyes to see that her spouse may have disowned her, but her mother did not, and she had a home waiting for her. Not once is the L’Abri mentioned as a place of shelter, which is the meaning of the word. Instead, it 's described as a “sad looking place.” The physical description given was, “The roof came down steep and black like a cowl, reaching out beyond the wide galleries that encircled the yellow stuccoed house” (Paragraph 6). The colors of the house can be seen as a symbolic message. When people would look at the house, they saw that it was
Armand feels like he is the victim of betrayal by his wife Désirée. As the baby gets older it is clear that the baby is not white. Armand’s attitude quickly makes him assume that Désirée is not white giving Armand a feeling of deception. He denounces his love for Désirée and the child and casts them out of the house and his life. Désirée is stricken with grief about her treatment by Armand. She cannot believe how a man who loves her so much could treat her with such hostility and cruelty. Désirée develops a negative attitude towards herself and her baby. She is upset that she cannot change how Armand thinks of her because of her baby. This attitude causes Désirée to walk out of Armand’s life forever to her demise. Core beliefs also give to human behavior in “Samuel” and “Desiree’s
The fact that Armand doesn’t accept his heritage is shown throughout that passage. Even with evidence of Armand being black. “ It was part of an old letter from his mother to his father. He read it. She was thanking god for the blessing of her husband's love:- But above all she wrote, “ 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”( Desiree’s Baby 287). This is evidence that Armand is black and has black blood coursing through his veins.
When Désirée had the baby, her mother noticed immediately that something was wrong with the baby; Madame Valmonde screamed “This is not the baby!” It wasn’t until when the baby was 3 months old that Désirée noticed the appearance of the baby and demanded an answer from Armand. Armand noticed this early already, so he told Désirée that she was at fault for the baby being black, “It means,” he answered lightly, “that the child is not white; it means that you are not white” (424). Désirée believed this because no one knew of her past. This distinctly shows how Désirée’s character lives to learn how close racism and male dominance can get in Southern life. For instance, when Armand says, “The child is not white; it means that you are not white” (424). This is when Armand realizes his wife is not the same as he is, and from this moment on, wants nothing to do with either her or their child. In the beginning of the story, Armand was deeply in love with Désirée, and still was, until the moment he realized their baby was not white. This is a glimpse of how life was in the South. Chopin offers a compelling vision of the class-based and racial prejudice of the South. As many critics would agree, Chopin’s stories have “the freshness which springs from an unexplored field—the quaint and picturesque life among the Creole and Acadian folk of the
Women were supposed to bring their husbands and children to the light of God. Desiree’s husband Armand was humiliated and ashamed when he realized his son was mixed with a race that was “cursed with the brand of slavery”. His way of getting “back at God for dealing cruelly with him” was through hurting his wife, showing that
were not for Armand’s racist views. He, and Desiree, could have lived a wonderful life together watching their son grow up had it not been for his terrible racist views.
Desiree’s Baby is a story that is mainly about race. Unfortunately, three months after Desiree gives birth to her baby her life begins to fall apart. After reading this story I realized that if we surrender to ourselves and let our prejudices rule us, we will destroy our happiness; however in the long run we will then end up destroying ourselves! Desiree and Armand’s relationship could be described as a superficial love that was influenced by pride and being prejudice. In my own opinion I feel that a person’s race should never affect the way you feel about them. In addition to that if you take their hand in marriage and make a vow to spend the rest of your life with them for better or for worst through thick and thin, you should not let anything
Desiree is a lady who completely relied on her husband for any type of support. Desiree became powerless when Armand rejected her and the child when he noticed the infant’s change in skin color. Without having Armand in Desiree's life, she had low self-esteem and did not have the will to live anymore. For the most part there was a large amount of racism in the story as well as the feeling that ladies too are not equivalent to men.
Armand falls in love with Desiree suddenly, it was described as love at first sight. “the passion that awoke in him that day, when he saw her at the gate , swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drive headlong over all obstacles.” As for Desiree, “she loved him desperately.” Armand’s version of love seemed very superficial he didn’t know anything about her. He falls in love with her because of her physical qualities, so this explains why his love was taken from her so harshly when
The characterization of Armand showed that he knew all along about his ethnicity. Armand wanted to cope with his insecurities and feel to his slaves, which is evident in the following example: “…young Aubigny’s rule was strict and under it his Negroes had forgotten, how to be gay as they had been during their old master who was easy going and indulgent in his lifetime” (Chopin 708). Armand was afraid people in the community might get to know about his secret. For example, when Desiree is confronting him, she asks, “Do you want me to go?” (710). Armand replies, “Yes I want you to go” (710). Armand immediately makes up his mind to allow her t...
In the story of “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, there are many literary themes that can be analyzed such as love, racism, gender inequality, and miscegenation. What this analysis will focus on is primarily on the central male character, Armand Aubigny, and on his views towards racism. More specifically, what this essay will aim to prove is that Armand Aubigny looked down upon the African race to the point where he hated them. One of the biggest driving points to aid this idea is how his family name shaped his behavior and actions according to the societal normalities of his time period. Another important aspect that will be considered is his very relationship towards his slaves in how he treated them cruelly even to the point where he is described as “having the spirit of Satan” (Chopin 3). In addition to this, the reader will also see Armand’s negative reaction to being aware of the implications of his son and wife having mixed blood in where he practically disowns them. With all this culminating to Armand finding out the ugly truth that the race he had treated so horribly is actually a part of his very own blood as well.
It was already made clear multiple times throughout the story how Desiree felt about all the changes that were occurring. She was miserable and saw no point in living. After knowing that, it is easy to infer that she chose to drown herself and her child, rather than going home to her mother. A few weeks after leaving, Armand holds a large bonfire in his yard burning all the belongings of Desiree’s and the baby’s. Everything from clothing, to the crib the baby slept in, to the early letters that were exchanged between the two of them before marriage. Among those letters, was one from his mother to his father. The letter explains why she left, stating she was happy to be away because it meant that Armand would grow up not knowing that his mother was actually black. The fact that Armand had this letter in his possession means that he knew for some time the truth of his heritage. However, to keep from harming his name, he led Desiree to believe that she was the black parent, which led to her untimely demise.
In “Desiree’s Baby,” Kate Chopin writes about the life of a young lady and her new family. In this short story, the fond couple lived in Louisiana before the American Civil War. Chopin illustrates the romantic atmosphere between Armand and Desiree. Chopin also describes the emotion of the parents for their new born. When the baby was born, Armand’s heart had softened on behalf of others. One afternoon, Desiree and the baby were relaxing in a room with a young boy fanning them with peacock feathers. As they were relaxing, Desiree had sniffed a threatening scent. Desiree desired Armand’s assistance as she felt faint from the odor that she could not comprehend. Armand had denied the request his wife sent. Therefore, he cried out that she nor the baby were white. Thus, Desiree took the baby and herself and walked into the bayou and they were never seen again. In this short story, Chopin illustrates the psychological abuse Desiree faces from her husband.
Armand becomes furious because he believes that Desiree?s race is what alters the color of the baby. After that incident, Armand displ...
He was convinced that his name is “…one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana” (Chopin 48), because of his family name. Armand took advantage of the fact that he was a owner slave and came from a family whose name was well known and he feel like a king. He’s pride was above his actual family and all he wanted was to protect the family name and history at any cost. After his boy was born, because his skin turned darker than it is supposed to be, he assumed that his wife, Desiree, is black and he asked her to leave. He felt that his pride was hurt because of the shame that his wife brought to the family name. He didn’t support that others to find the same thing and begin to discuss and make jokes about him. At this point, he started to show his real character. He felt like “…he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name” (Chopin 51). These words bring out the true feelings of Armand, that he never loved Desiree, but it was only a fleeting desire, only a lust. According to Chopin, Desiree was a beautiful girl, “For the girl grew to be beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere, - the idol of Valmonde.” (47). Armand loved Desiree only for her outward appearance, not for her character. His love for Desiree and for his son was a superficial love. He destroyed Desiree’s life and he ruined his own life as well because he lost his wife, his baby, and also, he
Armand is shown to be a weak character by his internal conflict himself. Armand’s weakness is initially shown by the way he treats his slaves. Although there is evidence to support that Armand is a man characteristic of the time, he seems to actually have benevolent feelings towards slaves. However, he is too weak express these feelings and instead acts in a rather strict manner: “Young Aubigny’s rule was a strict one, too, and under it his negroes had forgotten how to be gay, as they had been during the old master’s easy-going and indulgent lifetime,” (Chopin 9). In addition to his internal conflict about treatment of slaves, this quotation tells the reader a great deal about Armand’s general weakness as an individual. Besides the fact that his forcefulness is str...