FREE ESSAY ON DESIREE'S BABY

DESIREE'S BABY

The 19th century was a difficult time for many women and blacks because of the domination
of white men over them. The social and economic hardships they faced in day to day life
was a constant reminder of this domination. The social ideology in the story "Desiree's
Baby" was powerful and dangerous and held no escape for any character. 
A woman with small children who lost her husband would face extreme hardships without the
support of close family members. One who happened to be down on their luck would not find
much sympathy among their peers even with children. Kate Chopin was one of these
individuals who was down on her luck with six children. But fortunately had the support
and comfort of her mother for a short period before her mother passed away. A friend
advised this mother of six children that writing was a way to solve her problems
concerning money and help deal with her grief. Maternal love and all the grief from
losing loved ones were to be an attribute to the writing proficiency of this literary
artist. 
This period in Louisiana was not tolerant for mixed ancestry and one found to be
non-white would be ostracized from the white community. There were some whites in
Louisiana who was not racist but they would still have to follow a strict code of
segregation and social guidelines or risk social or bodily death. Kate Chopin was born
fourteen years before slavery was abolished so must have had strong feeling on the
subject. She no doubt saw mixed ancestry in the black communities and realized the cause
of it. This story crosses the line into the covert world of mixed ancestry and the
problems it produced. The racism in the story is not discussed openly but is prudently
mixed in with Armand's atrocious character and his evil soul. Armand's evil was deep as
he forsakes his loving wife, infant son, and God.
The story some proclaim contributed to Chopin's early success was "Desiree's Baby" in
this story she mixed many feminist emotions from maternal love, to a wife's love and
devotion to her estranged husband. 
During this period, some found it tolerable to leave a baby on the doorsteps of a family
to provide a chance at a better life. This was an important point in the story when the
Monsieur found the baby Desiree near the front gate, it would mean that Desiree would
probably never be aware of her biological parents ancestry. The chance a baby with both
parents would be dropped off is not logical but was probably a single mother. A single
mother knew there was little help to be found and the child would be hard pressed for a
descent upbringing socially and economically speaking.
Desiree grew into a beautiful and gentle-hearted young woman and soon found a wealthy
suitor asking for her hand. This young suitor had known of Desiree's past but was in love
and did not care of this seemingly innocent unknown factor of her past. This suitor,
Armand Aubigny was racist and wretched but the young bride was in love and looked past
his flawed character. The concept of young Armand falling instantly in love after seeing
Desiree standing by the gate is a bit suspicious and sounds more like infatuation. The
evil in Armand did not come from his parents and the black employees were cheerful when
he was growing up so it is an open question concerning his acquired hatred. The blacks
were cheerful while his father was alive but was not during Armand's strict management of
the L'Abri. Armand had changed to a kinder man after his marriage and the birth of his
son and it may have been the only time in his life he was truly happy. The death of his
mother while living in France when he was eight years old may have had a precarious
effect on his character. The way Madame Valmonde described the L'Abri as "a sad looking
place, which for many years had not known the gentle presence of a mistress"(1), may have
been a hint at Armands evil nature being tied to having no maternal influence during most
of his boyhood. 
Madame Valmonde noticed the baby's mixed ancestry immediately when she went for a visit,
exclaiming out loud at first sight of him "this is not the baby"(2), Desiree thought she
was referring to how big the baby had grown. Madame Valmonde looked closely at the baby
and new that it was indeed of mixed ancestry but did not mention it to her daughter, this
I believe was her way of hoping for the best. Madame Valmonde was wealthy but knew her
influence would not be enough to help if anyone found out the baby was black. This would
also mean certain social destruction for Desiree having given birth to a black child. 
The environment changed quickly on the L' Abri and Desiree was not aware of the
circumstances that had changed it. Her husband had recognized that the baby was not white
and had turned into his old malicious self and was ignoring his family in vain. One of La
Blanche's quadroon boys was near the baby when Desiree noticed the resemblance of the
skin color between the boy and her baby. Desiree confronted Armand and asked him to
explain what the baby's color meant and how it happened, Armand immediately and harshly
accuses Desiree of not being white like the baby. 
The quadroon boy is one quarter Negro ancestry and so his mother La Blanch is also of
mixed ancestry. This is important to know because Armand compares Desiree with that of La
Blanch when he tells her she is not white. Armand was quoted as hearing the baby crying
from "as far away as La Blanch's cabin"(2), the reason he was at the cabin could be he
was using La Blanch sexually. This would explain the quadroon boys. The practice of
raping a slave or employee in those days was not uncommon. Desiree compares her skin
color to that of Armand who is much darker than she is but he is not bothered by this
inconsistency in his reasoning. 
Desiree begged her mother Valmonde for help in explaining to everyone that she is indeed
white. Valmonde did not respond to Desiree's cry for help but just offered a place to
stay for Desiree and the baby. This was a strong blow for Desiree who felt she was now
isolated in her fight for justice against Armands unjust allegations. The struggle
Desiree was trying to overcome was a losing one and mainly because of the dominance of
men over women at the time.
Armand did not relent in his persecution of Desiree and the baby. This demented
individuals main goal was to crush the soul of Desiree and to punish God for what he
feels was his unjust treatment. Desiree finally went to Armand one last time hoping that
his psychotic episode would be over but Armand did not deviate telling her he wanted her
and the baby to leave. The Crushed and broken Desiree finally made the fateful decision
that there was no other life for her and the baby. This decision led to Desiree's suicide
and the baby's infanticide alone in the bayou. There would be no social life or chance of
a second family for a white woman with a black child during this time period.
Armand's psychotic episode continued and he burnt everything belonging to Desiree and the
baby or that reminded him of them. Fear was something Armand did not know because he
always had domination over everything around him, but with the baby being black he had
social rejection to fear. It was during this episode that he discovered a letter from his
mother to his father that revealed that it was indeed he who was black. God did enact the
final revenge with the appearance of the letter.
The story touches on several social issues that would not be talked about in specific
places and times. The interracial conceiving of children, mans dominance over his wife,
and whites dominance over blacks were all depicted in the story. In conclusion, the
struggle for women and blacks continue and with changing social attitudes some things are
improving for them but hatred and bias will be around for a long time.
Works Cited
National Womens History Project. *http://www.legacy98.org/ May 18, 1999
Wells, Kim "Domestic Goddesses." Amazon.Com. 1999.
*http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/ August 23, 1999
Hoffman, Abudrey B. "Kate Chopin" *http://www.kutztown.edu/faculty/reagan/chopin.html
Ker, Christina. "Kate Chopin" Empire Zine. 1998
*http://www.spydersempire.com/empirezine/features/august/chopin.htm 7August1998
Masturzo, Sharon. "Kate O'Flaherty Chopin 1850-1904: A Brief Biography." A Guide to
Internet Resources. *http://soleil.acomp.usf.edu./nsmasturz/kcchopbio3.html 1998
Hurley, Jennifer A., "Racism." Current Controversies. San Diego: Green Haven Press, 1998
Everett, Susanne. "History of Slavery." Brompton books Corp. Greenwich, Ct. 1991 
Chopin, Kate. "The Awakening and selected short stories - Desiree's Baby.
*http://ofcn.org. May 16, 1999