Analysis Of Desiree Baby By Kate Chopin

Racism has destroyed the beauty found in love and diversity. In Kate Chopin’s story, Armand found and fell in love with Desiree.

According to the story, “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 drives headlong over all obstacles”. They eventually got married and they had a baby which brought so much happiness to their life. It made Armand a better and lenient man especially towards his servant, so much so that “His negroes forgot how to be Gay”. Few months later, Armand found out his child was mixed and accuses his wife of been mixed and let her go because of his selfish reason of protecting his name. He finally found a letter from his mother which shows he was the one of mixed race and not his wife who he has detested and rejected. It was however too late to get her back. She was long gone. This goes to show that Prejudice as a defense mechanism is a dangerous act which could lead to destruction.

Theme

In the short story “Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin, the story focuses on the Joys and pains of motherhood, love, rejection ad racism. Madame Valmonde not been able to have children of her own, develops an attachment to Desiree who she considers her child. The girl brought her joy and fulfilment. Regardless of not having her own kids, having someone to call ‘Child’ was enough reason for her to stay happy and fulfilled. Desiree grew into a beautiful woman and captures the heart of a young man named Armand. Even without much knowledge of her background, he arranged and got married to her because of the love they had for each other. Desiree eventually had her own child, and she felt like she finally had something to live for and something to love dearly. Mothers are mainly the happiest whenever babies are born. They only can understand the joy of having a child from birth and it shows clearly on how happy Desiree felt about her child. The child brought lots of changes to the events happening in the house and also made her husband a very happy and proud man. He felt like the proudest man in the parish especially with the fact that he now had someone to bear his name. In the turn of events, Armand finds out the baby is of mixed blood and this makes him shun his wife and child. Desiree tried to make it work but Armand was willing to sacrifice the happiness of his family just to save his name. Desiree had to leave her home with her child after her mother told her to return home.

The connection and love between a mother and child is not far-fetched in the events that took place in the story. Madame Valmonde choose to take her daughter back regardless of her daughter having a broken marriage and Desiree was willing to take the pain and leave her home so she could her child a better and happier life. Kate Chopin obviously sympathizes with people who has to go through discrimination and rejection because of their race or skin color.

The problem of racism is a serious issue which obviously destroyed the marriage of Desiree and her husband Armand. It is believed that being black makes you a slave while been white makes you a master. The blacks are treated in any way the master pleases. They are allowed to be mistresses and work round the clock for their masters but never allowed to be wives. Armand obviously feels betrayed not because he doesn’t love his wife or not because he doesn’t want to love his wife but obviously because he feels betrayed by having a child who was mixed. Bu then the irony is that he finds a letter from his mother which revealed she was mixed meaning he was the one of mixed race and not Desiree but it was too late to bring his family back. Rushing into quick conclusions and taking rash decisions has been a misguided reaction which affects people’s lives. If Armand hadn’t concluded so quickly and left his wife to leave, then maybe he wouldn’t have lost his family.

Plot

In the story, Madame Valmont who had no child of her own, took in Desiree who was found by her husband as a baby, nursed and loved her as her own. Desiree grew up to be a beautiful lady and despite her obscure origin, Armand Aubigny falls in love with her when she was just 18 and they eventually got married. They had a baby which brought so much joy into their lives. They adored the baby so much that her husband became very lenient towards his slaves in respect to his new bundle of joy. Few months after the baby’s birth, Madame Valmont comes visiting and notices that the baby's skin appears darker than when he was born. The father, Armand eventually notices and assumes that his wife and mother of the child Desiree was the reason behind it as regards to her unknown origin. He ends up rejecting Desiree and the baby as he wanted to protect his family name and heritage. Madame Valmont was willing to take back her daughter and her baby but Desiree eventually takes her baby and walks away from her marriage into an unknown destination. At the end, Armand while discarding everything that had memories of his wife and child finds a letter from his mother who died when he was 8 years old, stating the fact that she was black. It turns out he is the one with an actual black heritage but it was too late because he has lost his wife and child.

Settings characters

The story Desiree’s baby takes place in Louisiana before the American civil war where the plantation owners enjoyed a luxurious life filled with slaves working on their plantations and suffered from deprivation and starvation. Monsuier Valmonte while riding home one day had found the beautiful baby Desiree peacefully asleep in the shadow of a big stone pillar. He took her home and handed her over to his wife who nursed the baby affectionately as she was considered a gift from God to wipe away their tears of not having their own child. She blossomed like a flower and was the center of attraction to everyone who came across her. At age 18, she was already one of the most beautiful girls in the community. “It was no wonder, when she stood one day against the stone pillar in whose shadow she had lain asleep, eighteen years before, that Armand Aubigny riding by and seeing her there, had fallen in love with her. That was the way all the Aubigny’s fell in love, as if struck by a pistol shot”. He was captivated by her beauty and the grace with which she stood against the pillar and at that moment, he knew he wanted to marry her regardless of not fully knowing her origin. They eventually got married and it changed a whole lot. Desiree became happier and more contented with her new life as a mother and wife while her husband acted with so much pride and became very lenient towards his servants. He stopped punishing them and became a little more understanding towards them. After Madame Valmonte’s visit, things took a different turn in Desiree’s home. Her husband found out the baby was of mixed race and started acting cold towards his wife. He wouldn’t talk to her, he would overlook her and the baby and paid less attention to whatever was going on in his home. Desiree lost her feeling of contentment. It became more of a dark and threatening anxiety as she couldn’t understand what was going on anymore. She decided to confront her husband one hot afternoon after he came home for some paper works. She clutched his hands and with tears streaming down her face asked her husband to explain what the child’s color meant. "Look at our child. What does it mean? Tell me." She requested. "It means that the child is not white; it means that you are not white." He replied coldly and without emotions. She felt broken and rejected. She knew what he said wasn’t right but she couldn’t find ways to defend it. She wasn’t even sure of her origin but she knew she was white, as white as she can ever be. Then one Afternoon, wearing nothing but her thin white garment and slippers, she picked up her baby and left. She dint head home like her mother requested, she went away, to a place where no one could find her, where she could feel her pain and nurse her wounds. He burnt everything, burnt her clothes, burnt her letters, burnt every memory of her but in that unremorseful period, he found a letter from his late mother, a letter showing he was of mixed race. So it wasn’t Desiree, it was him. His judgment was wrong and it cost him his family. There was no going back anymore. The love was lost.

Conflict

The conflict in this story arises when the skin color of the child started showing. A baby born to a white couple slowly starts showing signs of been half black. This is highly impossible and unacceptable for a white couple to have such a child except there’s a history of black in their blood. Desiree doesn’t understand how her husband went from being the happiest and proudest father to a cold hearted person who rejected and overlooked his family. But he obviously believed the fault was from the wife whose origin wasn’t clear. This leads to the conflict which eventually arises and which took a different turn of event in the story.

Climax

The Climax of the story starts when the Desiree found out her baby was of a mixed origin. The fear and feeling of been rejected by her husband lead to the conflict as she couldn’t live to be called black when she believes she wasn’t. She knew how much her husband viewed the black as slaves and having a child of a mixed race makes them unfit to be a part of his family. She was scared, she was worried and she was willing to die rather than be humiliated.

Conflict resolution

In Desiree’s baby, the conflict of the story was resolved when Desiree eventually decides to leave her husband’s house. Weeks later, the husband decided to discard all items that reminds him of his wife and child. In this event, he found a letter from his late mother which shows that he, Armand was of mixed race and not his wife Desiree. It was too late to make amends and it was too late to go back but the issue was resolved as the assumption in the story was cleared out. The husband assumed the wife was of a mixed race while the wife wasn’t even sure of where the child’s color came from.The burning of properties and finding of his mother’s letter could be seen as the resolution of the conflict in the story.