While reading the short story "Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin, many different thoughts came flooding to mind. I found it to be a very unique sort of story that threw me for a loop at the end. I love that Kate Chopin incorporates her thoughts and ideas about racism into her work, yet does not even state a thing about it at the same time. She shows with this twist, that people should not be judged based on the color of their skin and it is not always easy to tell or as "black and white" to tell when someone is of African American descent as those of the early American South would have liked to have thought. It was very difficult to even pick out and distinguish when the "one drop rule" was present, as in the baby in this story.
In the end, after putting the book down and just taking the whole story and letting it soak in, I found many "what ifs?" coming to mind. For example: 1) Had Desiree known that Armand Aubigny was half black, would she have disowned him as he did her, since she had a similar elitist upbringing to him in regards to the separation of classes by race? 2) Based on her own reaction of killing herself when she thought that she was black, does this show how she truly viewed people of a race different than her own, even though she enjoyed it when her husband was softer and less harsh on his slaves? 3) Was Armand less harsh suddenly on his slaves because he was happy that his son was born or was it because he saw that his very own son was of similar race?
I am still personally pondering these questions and am not quite sure what would have happened especially if Desiree had stuck around for the discovery of the letter in the very end. It is so mind-boggling that one little note could change your whole perspective of a situation and your opinion of a character. For me, this letter really made me re-evaluate things and even the sort of person that Armand was for banishing his own wife and child, meanwhile he was the reason that their baby was a quarter black. As i despised his character from the moment that he shunned them, the letter from his mother to his father only made the feelings of disbelief and almost disappointment with him as a person grow deeper. "Desiree's Baby" left me hanging on a cliff, similar to "The Storm", yet wanting to scold Armand for being so arrogant and blind.
7 comments:
The one-drop rule is what really stuck me about Desiree's Baby. It seemed unfair to people who knew very little about their own heritage. And the rejection that Desiree and her baby felt was unjust and it struck me that at first Armand loved these people and then because of what he considered an undesirable quality, shunned them form their home. I agree with you that Chopin is really making a commentary about the social situation of the South. I think that Chopin is exposing the overwhelming racism of the time and how it crept into a person's lives in unsuspecting ways. I am unsure what her remedy for the problem is but I am sure she was disgusted by the artificial standards of the day.
Jessica,
I thought all of the questions you were left with were really interesting. When I read “Desiree’s Baby,” I too was wondering about the third question you posted, about Armand’s treatment of his slaves. It seemed like such a strange thing for Armand to suddenly change … and to me, it wasn’t adding up that he would suddenly change his disposition towards his slaves just because he was happy he had a son. And then discovering that his own baby was ¼ black, that seemed to make more sense. But at the same time it still doesn’t make sense. So I am still wondering about this question myself. I am also very intrigued by your second question … When I realized Desiree had killed herself, I never even thought that she may be doing that because she thinks she may be black. I instead assumed it was out of her feeling of abandonment. But I think the question you pose puts a whole new spin on things, and again, I’m left wondering …
you raise some interesting "what if's?" questions. what I really found to be interesting is that Armand's affections were originally based upon nothing but his love for her but as soon as he might be looked at as different in the community his attitude quickley changes. I felt like he got what he deserved because no matter what he does he'll have to know that he killed his wife and child because of his own imperfections.
Jess, I thought you raised some really interesting points in your post. I hadn't thought that Desiree was killing herself (though maybe her baby) because she thought they were black. I thought it was more because she was rejected by her husband, whom she adored, and was too embarrassed to go home to her mother. But your analysis is more what I think Chopin had in mind. It adds to the twist at the end, that it is in fact Armand who is black...and he has known all along. I think Chopin really wants us to despise Armand, and I think she's pretty effective at that. I think he lightens up on the slaves after the baby is born because he saw that his son was black and it reminded him of his own heritage-which made him maybe feel kind of bad for being so cruel to his slaves. In the beginning, we know he is extremely vicious with them-apparently he is taking out his frustration on being part black on those who are easy to take it out on. But I'm not able to come to a clear conclusion as to why he is easier on his slaves, that's just my best guess.
I agree with you in that I couldn’t believe that there was a one-drop rule and that’s how they judged people. If you think about it today, everyone has a heritage, and relatives different from us. Everyone is from a variety of different backgrounds and heritages, so judging any one person because of a single heritage seems ridiculous. Also when we found out that there were body parts that were checked to see if the babies had any black in them was astounding that people actually did that. What I don’t understand is what people see as the difference between whites and blacks especially if they have to spend a lot of time looking at the child to determine if it has any back in them at all. Desiree didn't love the baby any less or treat it any differently until she knew he had a little bit of back in him. When she did found out that he was partly back it was like that was it, it was over, which doesn't make sense to me.
Your questions really got me to thinking. It's interesting to wonder if Desiree would have done the same thing to Armand if she thought that he was the one who wasn't fully white. I find myself saying no because she never rejected her baby after she realized what he was. Also, when she told her mother her mother didn't reject either of them. Her mother wasn't certain of Desiree's race herself, but never rejected her. I would think that the mother's values would have been passed on to Desiree and she wouldn't have done the same thing that Armand did to her. No one can really be sure though. You really got me thinking about Chopin's writing more than before. Good points : )
I really like how you came up with your "what if?" questions. I too was thinking the same things you were. I couldn't believe that after everything he did to his wife and child for him to find out that he was of mixed race just made me so happy. He needed to be hurt in some way after the way he acted. I couldn't believe that Desiree kills herself in the ending. I felt so bad for her. I was confused those as to what happened to her child. Did she kill herself and just leave her child alone? Or did she drop the baby off at her mother's and then kill herself? I was confused and angry that I had no answer.
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