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How did desire baby show racism
Desiree's baby summary
How did desire baby show racism
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In "Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin, the author begins the story by describing how Desiree had been found as a child by her adoptive parents. Her biological mother and father were unknown and her origin was never discovered. This obscurity allows the reader to infer that perhaps she's of mixed race and that's why her baby did not appear white. Her husband Armand Aubigny becomes hostile towards her when he notices the baby did not appear white. He makes her feel miserable about not being white even though she tells him that her eyes were grey and her skin was white. He points out that she was as white as one of his slaves who could also have been of mixed heritage. Armand stops treating her with respect and this causes Desiree to go get her son
In the text ‘Desiree’s baby’, Desiree’s identity is impacted after she gets abandoned by her husband Armand. Before the abandonment, Desiree was loved by Armand which can be discovered in the quote ‘When he saw her at the gate, swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles’. The use of simile communicates that when Armand saw Desiree, he fell in love with her at first sight. At that moment, he loved Desiree and nothing would stop his way. Soon after Armand found out that the baby is mixed race, he abandons Desiree and the baby. In the quote, ‘Do you want me to go?’ ‘Yes, I want you to go’. The dialogue communicates that Armand wants Desiree to go away or leave him which reveals that he does not love Desiree anymore. In the text, Desiree’s identity has positive to negatively changed from different events or experiences she goes through in her
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
Through the novel Birdie Lee challenges herself to confront her own awareness of self, to understand her families blackness through the gaze of whiteness. Birdies physical appearance is known as a straight hair and pale child, which gave her an identity that is more closely to the whiteness within her family. Whenever she is in the presence of both her father and Cole, she often felt that she disappeared and becomes invisible. Cole existence “was the proof that his blackness hadn’t been completely blanched” (Senna 1998, p.56).
“The Color of Water” by James McBride is a memoir about him and his mother’s life. In the 1960’s it was strenuously being white living in the South. James was always misled how his mother was white and he was black. For example, in chapter 2 of “The Color of Water” it explains about how James is questioning Ruth’s appearance. “ One afternoon as we walked home from the bus stop, I asked Mommy why she didn’t look like the other mothers. “ Because I’m not them,” she said. “Who are you?” I asked. “I’m your mother.” “…How come you don’t look like me?” She sighed and shrugged. She’d obviously been down this road many times.” (McBride12). This quote clarifies when he was younger; he acknowledged the fact that he was different in terms of color. Even
“Desiree Baby” by Kate Chopin is a very thought provoking short story that deals with racism, prejudice, and love. The story takes place in southern Louisiana, where Armand, a prominent landowner, marries a girl of unknown origin named Desiree. The story has a twist when their baby is born and is discovered to be of mixed race. Armand knew all along that he was OF mixed race, and I will prove it by analyzing characterization, diction, and imagery.
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.
In Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin, Armand Aubigny, a strict and rich young man, falls in love with Desiree, a beautiful young lady with an obscure origin. After some time, Armand and Desiree got married and had a baby girl. At first, Armand was overjoyed until he noticed that the baby was developing some odd physical characteristics. He became bitter and short tempered. Oblivious to the reason behind her husband disposition, it was only until she saw her baby next to a young slave boy that she was able to identify same similarities between them.
He was convinced that his name is “…one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana” (Chopin 48), because of his family name. Armand took advantage of the fact that he was a owner slave and came from a family whose name was well known and he feel like a king. He’s pride was above his actual family and all he wanted was to protect the family name and history at any cost. After his boy was born, because his skin turned darker than it is supposed to be, he assumed that his wife, Desiree, is black and he asked her to leave. He felt that his pride was hurt because of the shame that his wife brought to the family name. He didn’t support that others to find the same thing and begin to discuss and make jokes about him. At this point, he started to show his real character. He felt like “…he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name” (Chopin 51). These words bring out the true feelings of Armand, that he never loved Desiree, but it was only a fleeting desire, only a lust. According to Chopin, Desiree was a beautiful girl, “For the girl grew to be beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere, - the idol of Valmonde.” (47). Armand loved Desiree only for her outward appearance, not for her character. His love for Desiree and for his son was a superficial love. He destroyed Desiree’s life and he ruined his own life as well because he lost his wife, his baby, and also, he
The nonfiction book I read was titled Beautiful Child and was written by Torey Hayden. Beautiful Child follows the life of a special education teacher who is new to a school is met with a challenging class consisting of five children, all with very different needs. The class consists of a child who has tourette’s syndrome (Jesse), a child who we later find out has dyslexia (Billy), two twins who have fetal alcohol syndrome (Shane and Zane), and a young girl who is selectively mute (Venus.) Although through the story we see each child grow and progress, Venus is the main character and we see her open up to Torey through books and most important She-Ra comics. As Venus’ story unfolds, so do the horrendous details of her family that include a past of drug abuse and prostitution. The quietness of Venus that left many confused, begins to make
Stories about the tragic mulatto have conjured feelings of anger, racism, and sympathy since the 19th century. In Kate Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby,” Desiree plays the role of the tragic mulatto. This is a person who believes they are white, but finds out that they are actually black. There are three categories of the tragic mulatto and often they are female. The first is a woman fair enough to pass for white. She falls in love with a white man, but her mixed identity is revealed and the story ends dreadfully. The second is a woman who appears white and hides her “mixed race status” by lying. She’s accepted as being European or Spanish. Once her identity is found out, she loses her place in the community. Lastly is a woman who is accepted and liked socially, but once her Black heritage is recognized, she is forced into slavery and is sexually dominated by her slave master. Desiree is a racial stereotype in the story because her ancestry is unknown. Peel states that “Desiree casts doubt on the meaning of race, sex and class” (Peel 223). Solely based on her looks, she is assumed white and adopted by a white family. When Armand, her husband, interprets their baby’s appearance, he assumes that “the child and the mother are not white” (225). Her missing identity forces her to act as the tragic mulatto. Racial identity is determined by family history where the assumption of race is through skin color.
Another instance of how the baby conceals Desiree’s identity is when “Madame Valmonde drove over to L’Abri to see Desiree and the baby” (Chopin 1519). Chopin seems to showcase this sentence by titling Desiree’s identity as “Desiree and the baby.” For example, throughout the story, Chopin structures Desiree’s name as “Desiree and the baby” (1519). This phrase is used another time on page 1520, when “Madame Valmonde had not seen Desiree and the baby for four weeks” (Chopin). This suggests that Desiree and the baby’s identities are joined together, causing them to be one individual identity. Another example of their identities being linked together is when Armand says, “that the child is not white; it means that you are white” (Chopin 1521). Armand’s accusation implies that Desiree and the baby are the same; he sees no difference between them. They are not individualized. Instead, they are viewed as the same identity. Therefore, this shows that part of
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
In “Désirée’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, the tone changes throughout the story. In the beginning of the story the tone is dreamy, but it suddenly becomes grave in the end, reflecting how society’s demands can break apart even the strongest of loves and force someone to hide their deepest secrets. Armand Aubigny fell passionately in love with Désirée, so they got married and had a baby, but the baby turned out to be bi-racial. Since African-Americans were slaves and considered to be the “lesser” race, Armand sent Désirée away, even though he loved her, assuming she was half black because no one knew her biological family or where she came from. In the end, when Armand found out that his mother was black, he burned the evidence and said nothing to keep from bringing upon himself the discrimination he brought upon Désirée and her baby.
“Désirée’s Baby” is a story of love, prejudice and rejection, a story with noble beginnings that
Power struggles have been a driving force behind the actions of humanity for thousands of years. Whether it is simply a neighborly dispute over land boundaries, or a coup d’etat of a major country, people have always felt the need to display superiority. In Kate Chopin’s short story “Désirée’s Baby," Désirée is adopted by the Valmondés after being abandoned by unknown parents. Once she is of age, Armand falls in love with her and they marry. When they have a son, Armand notices that the child possesses characteristics of a black person, and he assumes Désirée must be of African descent. He kicks them out of his house, but ironically, it is revealed that Armand is actually the one of black descent. The apparent issues of white supremacy over