The Topic Of Racism In Desiree’s Baby By Kate Chopin
“Hating people because of their color is wrong and it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong. ” — Muhammad Ali
One widespread view in the nineteenth century was that blacks were “subhuman” and they were inferior to whites. “Desiree’s Baby”, a short story written by Kate Chopin, reveals that the racism is the cause of unfair treatment of blacks and family conflict. This story is about an adopted girl called Desiree marries a landowner, Armand. They had a happy marriage until their baby was born. Armand found his son was not pure white and deemed that his wife belonged to a lower race. Ironically, Armand discovers that he is the person of mixed racial heritage after he rejects Desiree and their baby. In the story, Armand abuses the slaves, sexually exploits the female slave La Blanche, and abandons his wife and son due to their race.
According to the story, Armand treats his slaves unfairly due to their skin color. “Young Aubigny’s rule was a strict one. . . his Negroes had forgotten how to be gay as they had been”. Armand’s slaves do not have any human rights and freedom. They have to work day and night, serve their masters carefully and have no time to relax. Their lives are miserable and painful. Moreover, when Armand notices that his baby is not pure white, he vents his anger on those innocent slaves - “the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slaves”. This mistreatment from Armand, therefore, is caused by his racial prejudice.
Furthermore, the author implies that Armand has the sexual relationship with La Blanche, one of Armand’s slaves, but is not responsible to her due to her race. When Desiree chats with her mother, she mentions that Armand has visited the female slave’s cabin and spent the night. “‘And the way he cries,’ went on Desiree, ‘is deafening. Armand heard him the other day as far away as La Blanche's cabin’”. Moreover, Armand has affair with the slave is proved from the other side that he probably is the father of La Blanche's quadroon boy. “She looked from her child to the boy who stood beside him, and back again, over and over. ‘Ah!’ It was a cry that she could not help”. Desiree at that time not only finds out that her child has the mixed race but also recognizes that the baby and the quadroon boy both look like Armand. Although La Blanche has the relationship with Armand, she and her son are still enslaved. “One of La Blanche's little quadroon boys – half naked too – stood fanning the child slowly with a fan of peacock feathers”. Thus, the unfair treatment that La Blanche and her child suffered is due to Armand’s racial discrimination.
At the end of the story, racism is the cause of Armand’s rejection of Desiree and his son. Armand has loved Desiree and their child. Nevertheless, his love could not compare with the ancestry which he took seriously. “Moreover, he no longer loved her, owing to the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name”. Armand with the incorrigible racial belief could not tolerate the fact that his wife and child are not as white as him. In the story, Armand “absented himself from home; and when there, avoided her presence and that of her child, without excuse”. He neglects his wife who just gave birth to his child and the newly born baby. Furthermore, Armand abandons his wife and son to protect his pure blood and family honor. “‘Shall I go, Armand?’. . . ‘Yes, go. ’ ‘Do you want me to go?’ ‘Yes, I want you to go’”. Desiree and the baby became the victims of racism and they are punished because of their skin color.
In conclusion, racism is the cause of depression and unfair treatment. Armand, on account of his racial prejudice, enslaves the blacks strictly, be irresponsible to the slave that he has sexual relation with, and rejects his wife and son cruelly. Many conflicts occur in the society are due to the racism. To prevent racism, people should respect each other, understand other race’s culture, and develop equality so that the world will become more harmonious and peaceful.
