Themes of Desirees Baby Essay - 1053 Words

â€Å"Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby† is a story of love, prejudice and rejection, a story with noble beginnings that slowly turns to reveal an uglier side of human relations. Armand, a wealthy landowner of the plantation L’Abri in the ante-bellum south of Louisiana, is confronted by a family secret that has been hidden from him, even into adulthood. The secret is scandalous for its day, and its consequences run deep into the fabric of society. No one told Armand of this secret. He discovers it by chance at the end of the story, when he finds the remnants of an old letter written by his mother to his father, the significance of which, and its revelations, makes us focus on the many tragic and ironic decisions made by him during this story. In the old†¦show more content†¦It turns out the baby is of mixed blood and because of this, he shuns his wife and the child he was so proud of only days before. â€Å"He absented himself from home and when there, avoided her presence and that of her child, without excuse.†(317). Armand was â€Å"the proudest father in the parish†¦it is a boy to bear his name.†(317). Additionally, he accuses Dà ©sirà ©e of not being white (a crime against his family’s â€Å"purity†) which she adamantly denies. â€Å"It is a lie it is not true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown and my eyes are gray, Armand you know they are gray. And my skin is fair,† â€Å"Look at my hand whiter than yours, Armand,†(318). She writes to her adopted mother and tells her of what is happening. Her mother tells her to return home with the child where they will both be loved, but Dà ©sirà ©e is so shocked and disheartened she sets off towards a local bayou with the child never to be seen again. Armand has made the decision to lose his family in order to save his name and it’s too late to bring Dà ©sirà ©e back. The irony is that the letter read by Armand from his mother reveals to him that it is he who is of mixed blood and not Dà ©sirà ©e. Placing blame on outside forces can also be a tragic and misguided reaction to events that people encounter. Armand makes this mistake when he can see no other cause for his anguish and blames God for what he sees as a cruel injustice placed upon him. â€Å"He thought Almighty God had dealt cruellyShow MoreRelatedThemes And Summary In Desirees Baby, By Kate Chopin1242 Words   |  5 PagesSummary: The story of â€Å"Desirees Baby† by Kate Chopin opens up with Madame Valmondà © going to visit Desiree and her infant. On her journey to L’Abri, a plantation owned by Armand Aubigny, she reminisces about Desiree’s youth. Desiree was an abandoned baby found by Monsieur Valmondà ©. Madame Valmondà © trusted Desiree was sent to her by God as she was not able to have her own children. Eight years has passed and Armand Aubigny, the son of a wealthy cruel master, suddenly falls in love with DesireeRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin1540 Words   |  7 PagesIn â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† Desiree is an orphaned woman who married her loving husband, Armand, and they are very much in love. In Kate Chopin’s short story is says, â€Å"He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana? (24-26). When they finally have a baby, they notice that the child is sho wing marks that he is a mix of two races. The husband blames the wife because of her unknown past and sends her and the baby awayRead MoreKate Chopin s Desiree s Baby878 Words   |  4 PagesKate Chopin’s â€Å"Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby† Many of Kate Chopin’s short stories deal with women in search of love, self-knowledge, and a sense of belonging, however, in â€Å"Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby† we see a much more apparent theme of miscegeny, slavery, and racism. In her critical essay on â€Å"Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby,† Rena Korb asserts that â€Å"Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby† mainly focusses on a woman seeking only a place of belonging. Upon reading â€Å"Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby† one could come to the conclusion that this story is much more concerned with expressingRead More Symbolism in Desirees Baby by Kate Chopin Essay944 Words   |  4 PagesSymbolism in Desirees Baby by Kate Chopin Desirees Baby is Kate Chopins most well-known short story and most anthologized piece of work. The story takes place in southern Louisiana and her writing reflects her Creole-French descent. Chopin begins the story with a descriptive quote, when she reached LAbri she shuddered at the first sight of it, as she always did. It was a sad looking place...Big solemn oaks grew close to it and their thick leaved, far-reaching branches shadowed it likeRead MoreAnalysis Of Desiree s Baby By Kate Chopin919 Words   |  4 PagesDesiree’s Baby†: An Annotated bibliography Thesis: Kate Chopin combines the racial and social differences on the eighteen century, in which people have to face racial discrimination amongst a social empire, which brings many conflicts within diverse couples about their firstborns. Chopin, Kate Desiree’s Baby. Short Stories (print 7/14/2015). In the short story, Desiree’s Baby, written by Kate Chopin there is a about of karma and consequences that produce the drama on the literature. The storyRead MoreGender Roles And Freedom Through A Literary Lens852 Words   |  4 Pagestouched on deal mostly with the themes of race and the patriarchy discussed in Chopin’s work and how they are portrayed within the story. Perhaps one of the greatest criticisms that each author has noted is that Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby, leaves too many questions unanswered. Jon Erickson addresses Kate Chopin’s means of addressing the issue of gender roles and freedom through a literary lens. Erickson claims that Chopin juxtaposes two frame of reference: expectation and reality, themes commonly found within theRead MoreAnalysis Of Kate Chopin s Desiree s Baby 951 Words   |  4 PagesRacial discrimination was a major problem in the late nineteenth century. In Kate Chopin’s â€Å"Desiree’s Baby†, there were characters with extreme views towards race which led to a gruesome death. The major conflicts in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† are from Armand assuming what he thought about Desiree was right, and not taking another answer that could be a possibility. Armand was the antagonist of the story and struggles against the beliefs that the country has about race. Desiree, the protagonist was in conflictRead More Kate Chopins Desirees Baby - The Formalistic Approach Essay1129 Words   |  5 PagesThe Formalistic Approach to Desirees Baby  Ã‚      Kate Chopins narrative of Desirees Daughter created a sense of ambiguity among the reader until the last few sentences of the story.   However, the Formalistic Approach to Literature helps one to review the texts and notice countless relationships between the detailed components and conclusion of the story.   These elements draw clues and foreshadow the events that happen throughout the duration and climax of the narrative.   CloseRead MoreDesirees Baby Essay828 Words   |  4 PagesInequality in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† is a tragic short story written by Kate Chopin. The story is about the struggle between the main characters Armand and his wife Desiree. The relationship is torn apart after they come to the realization that they have a quadroon baby or quarter black. Neither of them know that either one could be the cause of the mixed baby. Armand sees this as a curse to his family name and disowns Desiree and the baby. After Desiree and her baby are disownedRead MoreDà ©sirà ©es Baby Character Analysis1087 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Class, Gender, and Racial Value in Chopin’s Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby Taking place in antebellum Louisiana, Kate Chopin’s Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby places a strong focus on social class, gender, and racial value. Two characters that are limited by their acceptance of these are Dà ©sirà ©e and Armand, husband and wife with a newborn boy. Dà ©sirà ©e grew up at the Valmondà © residence where she was abandoned at a young age and Armand is a part of the elite planter class. Dà ©sirà ©e’s unknown ancestry along with being raised in a