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Grace Paley’s “Samuel” and Kate Chopin’s “Désirée’s Baby” both deal with tragic deaths caused by peoples’ actions both directly and indirectly. These two short stories have similarities whose narrator tells the deaths of two young and innocent people who were the victims of a harsh and unsuspecting society. Paley’s “Samuel” is about a group of boys who are having fun on a subway train leaping from platform to platform between the cars. The adults are watching the children with mixed emotions. The men watching the boys reminisce back to memories of their childhood; while the women are angrily showing discontent on their faces directed at the boys. The action of one of the passengers causes the train to come to a halt throwing one of the boys …show more content…
Armand feels like he is the victim of betrayal by his wife Désirée. As the baby gets older it is clear that the baby is not white. Armand’s attitude quickly makes him assume that Désirée is not white giving Armand a feeling of deception. He denounces his love for Désirée and the child and casts them out of the house and his life. Désirée is stricken with grief about her treatment by Armand. She cannot believe how a man who loves her so much could treat her with such hostility and cruelty. Désirée develops a negative attitude towards herself and her baby. She is upset that she cannot change how Armand thinks of her because of her baby. This attitude causes Désirée to walk out of Armand’s life forever to her demise. Core beliefs also give to human behavior in “Samuel” and “Desiree’s …show more content…
The emotions that stem from core beliefs influence how people act and react in society. Some emotions that influence people are anger, fear, shame, and pride. In “Samuel” a woman wants to turn and tell the kids to stop jumping recklessly, and even threaten to call a police officer (Paley 349). The boys who are of different ethnic background other than white scare the woman. The narrator states from the woman’s point of view, “But three of the boys were Negroes and the other was something else she couldn’t tell for sure. She was afraid they’d be fresh and laugh at her and embarrass her. She wasn’t afraid they would hit her, but she was afraid of embarrassment.” (Paley 349). The stereotype of these boys causes the woman to fear the feeling of embarrassment causing her to do nothing to alter the boys’ behaviors. If the woman had intervened the outcome could had turned out different. The man who "citizenly" (Paley 350) walks to the end of the car to pull the emergency stop discussed earlier feels a moral obligation to take matter into his own hands to stop the boys’ behaviors. The man feels his duty is to intervene; although his actions lead to a tragic outcome. Désirée is also affected by her husband’s cultural
Women were supposed to bring their husbands and children to the light of God. Desiree’s husband Armand was humiliated and ashamed when he realized his son was mixed with a race that was “cursed with the brand of slavery”. His way of getting “back at God for dealing cruelly with him” was through hurting his wife, showing that
The death of a child with her mother is a horrendous thing to happen. Why would a mother choose this as the only option for her and her child? Was it out of love or was it out of being so scared that she had no idea what to do anymore? Was it really her only option or were there other things she could have done. Desiree made the choice that set part of the irony in Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin.
Kate Chopin was one of the leading female writers of her time and did so with style and grace. Chopin used unconventional female characters often as the leading roles in her stories, which was unusual in late 1800 and early 1900 writings. Many people linchpin the significant roles of the powerful women in her stories, but the men played a very salient role in the empowerment of these women. In both of Chopin’s famous short stories, “The Story of an Hour” and “Desiree’s Baby” both have men who share similar traits and different traits as characters. In “The Story of an Hour” Chopin’s main male character, Brently Mallard, is indirectly characterized, while in “Desiree’s Baby” Chopin’s main male character, Armand Aubigny, is directly characterized.
...t not judge the people by looking at their races, like the old says" don't judge a book by its cover. In the reading, the pride of Armand was greater than the love for his wife and their baby, which destroyed Desiree and their baby's life and led to a sad ending.
Chopin, Kate. "Desiree's Baby." The Awakening and Other Stories. Ed. Judith Baxter. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996.
In “Desiree’s Baby,” Kate Chopin writes about the life of a young lady and her new family. In this short story, the fond couple lived in Louisiana before the American Civil War. Chopin illustrates the romantic atmosphere between Armand and Desiree. Chopin also describes the emotion of the parents for their new born. When the baby was born, Armand’s heart had softened on behalf of others. One afternoon, Desiree and the baby were relaxing in a room with a young boy fanning them with peacock feathers. As they were relaxing, Desiree had sniffed a threatening scent. Desiree desired Armand’s assistance as she felt faint from the odor that she could not comprehend. Armand had denied the request his wife sent. Therefore, he cried out that she nor the baby were white. Thus, Desiree took the baby and herself and walked into the bayou and they were never seen again. In this short story, Chopin illustrates the psychological abuse Desiree faces from her husband.
All humans aspire to be unique but act the same as everybody else. This is the dilemma that human beings all have to face when it comes to identity. The reason for this is because we want to be accepted into society but conformity has its consequences. Similarly in the story Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin, the author takes the reader back to the times of slavery to meet a young couple happily wedded with a newborn baby. Just after the baby's birth, its skin color causes Armand, the Husband, to destroy his family, deny his heritage and lose his loved ones. Why, because of the babies race, which it had no control over, was unacceptable. The consequences Armand faced were all because of his urge to conform which served him little good. All in
"Desiree's Baby", by Kate Chopin, is a story about the effect love and pride have on our actions. Love changes people for the better. "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Pride, however, can have the opposite effect. Pride is spurred on by a dislike of falling below your standards. Pride doesn't leave much room for mercy and kindness and it makes people think of "self" first and of others only if it benefits; it is unreasonable. This essay will discuss the role love plays in Armand and Desiree's lives and the destructive power of pride and the effect of the choices our characters make.
Now, Désirée is alone with a baby that she gave birth to. It perhaps does not look like her, but it is her gift from God. I believed this story embraces the value of true love; Désirée went from an ignorant rich white young woman to a strong woman who will do anything for her child. She left a life full of prejudices to give her little boy a life with meaning, and love. Moreover, Chopin’s last paragraph embraces the same concept, “Our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (77). Armand’s mother sacrifices her desire to raise her child to give him a live of freedom. This is another proof that love is selfless, strong, and unbreakable.
Desiree’s Baby is a story that is mainly about race. Unfortunately, three months after Desiree gives birth to her baby her life begins to fall apart. After reading this story I realized that if we surrender to ourselves and let our prejudices rule us, we will destroy our happiness; however in the long run we will then end up destroying ourselves! Desiree and Armand’s relationship could be described as a superficial love that was influenced by pride and being prejudice. In my own opinion I feel that a person’s race should never affect the way you feel about them. In addition to that if you take their hand in marriage and make a vow to spend the rest of your life with them for better or for worst through thick and thin, you should not let anything
Armand is getting rid of what seems of Desiree’s belong and coming across letter that she had sent to him during the days of their espousal.
The short-story “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin took place during the first half of the 19th century and between the Revolutionary and Civil War, when the intermixing of races was taboo. The story was centered around the negative perspective on ethnicity. It also took place in Louisiana, which is where a multitude of people who are mixed with different origins are found. The theme of racism in “Desiree’s Baby” is reflected in Light and Stancle’s “Color Blind” song. “Desiree’s Baby” illustrates how an individual’s ethnicity can create such a divisive issue with an incredible combination of imagery, characterization, and irony, yet she also unveils the buried actualities about
Armand is quick to put the blame on Desiree, since her history is unknown. Desiree tries to argue with Armand, she brings up her appearance as evidence to her purity. “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” (Chopin 1075). Desiree is frantic, and all she wants is for Armand to believe her. Armand finds a way to use the color of her skin against her by comparing her to one of their slaves. La Blanche, meaning the white one; is proof that just because your skin is fair does not mean you are pureblooded. “They behave badly, each blaming the other. Neither knows the truth, but because Armand is the more powerful, Desiree is disgraced and banished” (Rosenblum). Armand knew before marring Desiree that her past was unknown, that is why Monsieur Valmonde warned him. Armand said that it did not matter, but if that were true; why is he angry about it now? “Armand’s hubris, the result of male privilege buttressed by family pride and a sense of racial superiority, makes unconditional love for Desiree impossible” (Elfenbein 124). Armand could never truly love Desiree the she wanted him too, in the end her unknown origin turned out to be a problem. Armand asks Desiree to leave with her baby. “Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his
In “Desiree’s’ Baby” Chopin illustrates slavery and racial issues in the 19th century. In the plot of the story it shows Armand being a wealthy owner of a plantation, with slaves. Through irony and foreshadowing, Chopin shows the treatment that was done by Armand to the workers because they were of color, and with his family because they are not the same.
The reader easily recognizes that Desiree’s point of views about life are as being an obeyed wife, so she depends on her husband, Armand, for most of the time. Desiree really cares about her husband feelings and was always in sympathy with the husband. She is cheerful when Armand is happy and when Armand is sorrowful, she is just “miserable enough to die” (Chopin. 244). The setting of the story is in a society where people look very low and strict with those not of ethnicity, skin color. Desiree’s baby is the problem between her and her husband due to the baby is quadroon. According to Chopin “Moreover, he no longer loved her because of the conscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name”, Armand told Desiree he does not love her anymore because she is not white and she is being mixed blood as his assertion (245). Desiree is adopted by Valmondae family at really young age, she is very vague about her background so Desiree does not have enough grounds to prove that she is completely origin from white American. Her heart seems torn when her dear husband, Armand asks her to leave the house with her child. “She turned away like one stunned like a blow, and walked slowly towards the door, hoping he would call her back” (Chopin 245). She has never