Oppression In Desiree's Baby By Kate Chopin

Desiree’s Baby is a story that ultimately is sad, despite its beginning. A woman going by the name Desiree gives birth to a child on a plantation. This brings her, and her husband, Armand, much happiness, until Armand discovers that the baby is mixed. Though Armand was the only one disturbed by this at the time, he immediately blames Desiree for the baby’s ethnicity, which results in Desiree’s running away from the plantation with the infant, never to return. Many literary critics claim that this story focuses on the injustice of racial oppression. However, the actual injustice present in the story is the injustice of a wrongly attributed racial identity, given the work’s actual focus and Desiree’s situation. There is obviously a case of racial oppression present in Desiree’s Baby. Slaves resided on a plantation owned by an owner (Armand) who would relentlessly give them hell is he was not in a good mood, as he did upon discovering his child’s ethnicity, “the very spirit of Satan

She is targeted by Armand with verbal abuse after he learns of the baby’s racial background, but that is only because he suspects her of being of a mixed racial background. He later finds out that his mother “belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (174), proving his accusations false. On the other hand, Desiree does claim to Armand that she is white, though this is not exactly confirmed when her mother responds to her inquiry about her ancestry, telling Desiree to return to her with her child. Despite this, it can be said that Armand was wrong to accuse Desiree since he was partially, if not completely, the reason behind the baby’s race. Desiree’s Baby incorporates racial oppression and the incorrect attribution of racial identity. However, it really focuses on the latter as the latter results in the destruction of the family that the story centers