Desiree's Baby Desiree's Baby is a short story written by Kate Chopin. It is set in 19th century Louisiana. The story starts with Madame Valmonde going to visit Desiree and her baby. She thinks back on her memories of Desiree as a baby:"It made her laugh to think of Desiree with a baby.Why it seemed but yesterday that Desiree was littlemore than a baby herself."This quote tells us two things. The first is that Madame Valmonde must have known Desiree as a child and is either a close family friend of even a member of the family herself. The second thing is that Desiree is young. The word "baby" could either mean childlike or physically young. Desiree seemed to be a normal child and had had a normal childhood. The third paragraph tells us more about Desiree #39;s background:"She had been purposely left by a band of passingTexans."This makes us think that she he had been abandoned at a very young age outside Madame Valmonde’s home. We can also tell from paragraph five that"She was nameless."No one knew what her name was or what her family background was like. It was all a rumour.Eighteen years after this, Armand Aubigny fell in love with Desiree From the fifth paragraph of the first page we can tell that Armand was very proud of his family name."What did it matter about a name when he could giveher one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?"This is a very old fashioned point of view. To Armand, his name was everything. There is a very strong social contrast between the nameless Desiree and Armand.Signs of racism become apparent in the book on page 67:"Young Aubigny´s rule was a strict one, too, and underit his Negroes had forgotten how to be happy."Armand must have treated them very harshly and made them unhappy. His home is described as being sad looking and quite dreary.The second paragraph of page 67 gives the reader a
description of the type of home Armand owns. There are muslins, a couch decorated with laces, there are also slaves. Madame Valmonde’s first reaction to the baby was one of shock and astonishment:"This is not the baby!"Theoretically this isn't very significant because babies tend to grow very quickly and their outward appearance can change very fast. The eighth paragraph on this page gives us a hint at why Madame Valmonde was so startled when she first saw the baby."Madame Valmond had never removed her eyes from thechild. She lifted it and walked with it over to the windowthat was lightest. ...
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description of the type of home Armand owns. There are muslins, a couch decorated with laces, there are also slaves. Madame Valmonde’s first reaction to the baby was one of shock and astonishment:"This is not the baby!"Theoretically this isn't very significant because babies tend to grow very quickly and their outward appearance can change very fast. The eighth paragraph on this page gives us a hint at why Madame Valmonde was so startled when she first saw the baby."Madame Valmond had never removed her eyes from thechild. She lifted it and walked with it over to the windowthat was lightest. She scanned the baby narrowly, thenlooked as searchingly at Zandrine, whose face was turnedto gaze across the fields."This is a very important point. Madame Valmonde has noticed something different about the baby. The fact that she didn't take her eyes off the baby verifies this. She then takes the baby over to the window "that was lightest". This could mean either that the room was a bit gloomy, like the rest of Armand's home, or there was something about the boy that just didn't look "right". When Madame Valmonde looks over at the black slave, this gives us the biggest clue to what is different about the baby. Madame Valmond just have seen a resemblance in the baby and Zandrine. The author deliberately doesn't tell us that the baby is black. An air of mystery is created. Desiree clearly doesn't notice any thing and thinks that her mother's reaction is due to the child's growth. She hasn't noticed anything odd about the child. When you spend a lot of time with someone and you see them frequently, you don't notice little differences in their appearance. But Madame Valmonde hadn't seen Desiree and her baby for four weeks.The next little section shows us what Armand's reaction to the birth of his child were."he hasn't punished one of them - not one of them -since baby is born"The birth of a child clearly has softened Armand and made him happier. Desiree also became happier because she loved her husband desperately and was happy when he was happy. But on page 68 line five a physical description of Armand is given."But Armand's dark, handsome face had not beendisfigured by frowns since the day he fell in lovewith her."The word "dark" in this quote could mean either that he was always dismal or that his skin was dark. This becomes more apparent as we read on in the book. The second paragraph on this page suggests that something is wrong. The behaviour of blacks on the estate changes, there are unexpected visits from neighbours, Armand's manner changes, he doesn't look at his wife and he is frequently away from home. He starts to avoid his wife and child. In the third paragraph the truth is revealed. Desiree is sitting in her room one afternoon with her child. There is a quadroon child fanning the baby."She looked from her child to the boy who stood besidehim, and back again, over and over. 'Ah!´ It was a crythat she could not help; which she was not consciousof having uttered."Desiree realises the similarity between her baby and the mixed race slave. She is completely confused. She then asks Armand:"look at our child. What does it mean? Tell me."He then immediately blames her for being black."It means that the child is not white; it means thatyou are not white."The reason Desiree is blamed is because of her obscure origin. When Armand refers to the child as "the child" this shows that he does not associate himself with the baby and feels emotionally unattached, we assume this is because the baby is black, this shows his deep racism against black people.Desiree and Armand then compare their skin colours."Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand,"he then says"As white as La Blanche's,"this is very cruel. From what Desiree says about her hand being whiter than Armand's we begin to suspect that maybe it isn't Desiree who is black and it is Armand. It is very ironic. Armand is letting his pride get in the way of his marriage. He refuses to believe that there is black blood in his family. It cant have come from him because he is white… isn't he?Desiree then writes a letter to her mother and the reply tells her to go back to Valmonde with her baby. Armand wants Desiree to go because of the unconscious injury she has caused him."Moreover he no longer loved her, because of theunconscious injury she had brought upon his homeand name."It was a great insult to think that he had black blood. As Desiree leaves, Armand ignores her. She is greatly saddened by this. Towards the bottom of page 69 Desiree walks away"under the live-oak branches"the significance of this is that even though everyone in the household seems to be "dead" life around them is still going on. The trees are a sign of this."She did not take the broad, beaten road whichled to the far-off plantation of Valmonde.Shewalked across a deserted field,"As Desiree disappears off into the country with the baby she feels just as ashamed as Armand. She doesn't even want to walk down a public road.The top of page 70 indirectly suggests that Desiree goes and commits suicide."She disappeared among the reeds and willows thatgrew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggishbayou; and she did not come back again."This is a very sad ending. The last four paragraphs are about Armand. A few weeks after Desiree leaves with the baby Armand burns all of their possessions. He tries to get rid of the memory of her and his son. He burns the baby's cradle with all the extravagant furnishings and priceless clothes. He then burns Desiree’s expensive wedding dress and all of her clothes. The last thing to go was a bundle of letters that Desiree had written to Armand. The last paragraph reveals the truth. In the draw where Armand had kept his letters, there was the remains of a letter from his mother to his father."I thank the good God for having so arranged our livesthat our dear Armand will never know that his mother,who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed withthe brand of slavery."So it is in fact Armand who is black. To some extent I feel some sympathy for him even though it's because of his own actions he loses his wife, his baby and then has to deal with his hatred of himself racially.Desiree seems to have an emotional roller coaster in the story she goes from having "a glow that was happiness itself" to being "miserable enough to die". Which shows another contrast in the story. The difference between Desiree that is soft and non-violent and just bottles things up inside, and Armand who will act upon what he feels regardless of what anyone thinks.Desiree then seems to sink into madness, she is described as "hysterical" and when she goes to kill herself she obviously hasn't prepared, for she isn't not dressed for it (well who is dressed for killing themselves?) or thought about killing herself. She had reached the conviction that she must kill without much thought.Armand rejects the baby because he feels hurt or betrayed by the it, and the baby, through no fault of its own, hurt him and humiliated him. He also put his faith into Desiree this may sound like it is unemotional but its not, by marrying lower down the relative hierarchy and then, in his mind, she brought "unclean" blood into the family. I think the real fault lies with Armand's parents for not telling him about his racial background. They probably only did this so he could live a good life without discrimination, but in the long run it did him more harm than good. If he had known about it before this whole incident would not have happened. His ethics would be completely different but he wouldn't be living in such splendour. I think he would be happier if he would have known from a younger age what his background was. After all life is quality not quantity.
