Vassilios Makris Mr. Caswell American Literature 12 April 2024 The grasp of home Sometimes home is not always a place, in many ways, a home is seen as a collective group of ideas that find a station in a particular place. In Brit Bennet's novel “The Vanishing Half” twins Desiree and Stella both lived in the same town until the age of sixteen, filling out the mold made for them. Soon after leaving, each of the two went on to have many journeys and experiences rooted in their time spent at home. Both twins went on to live life as opposites, yet they both could not escape the influence their home had on them alongside the way they were raised. All these aspects interfere and lead to many decisions made by both characters throughout the novel. The set of twins grew up in a small …show more content…
Of course, Desiree knew she was not white, but many were jealous and hateful towards the fact that she could pass for white. Desiree Uprising was against going and marrying a colored man but because of this upbringing, Desiree rebels against this idea. Desiree’s character is developed with the idea that she is not a rule follower and breaks the rules for the sake of breaking them. Marrying Sam in some sense was a way of rebelling, a way she could try to get further from her hometown. Desiree’s uprising led to making this life-altering decision, even if it did not mean it was subliminally due to the morals her mother imbedded in her and Desiree’s will to break them. After Desiree leaves Sam for the better, she retreats to her home, which of course, she could never leave in her past, no matter how hard she tried to pull away or how far she moved. Desiree chooses to leave home due to her upbringing, and Stella does the same. The difference in their choices is apparent when Desiree doesn't mind standing out, while Stella’s biggest fear is “Why couldn't she just be like the rest of the neighbors and keep her
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
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
During the different times that both stories were written the way that African Americans were treated were quite similar. Back in 1909 when The Color Purple took place it was before woman were really seen as what they are and they were just figured to be a caretaker and a maid. The fact that Nettie was black didn’t help because she was considered to be dumb while in fact she was intelligent. During her years when she was married to Albert she with a little help of her sister Cellie learned how to read. Slavery was taking place during the period Desiree’s baby was written in. It was a horrible thing to be African American and a woman during that time. When it was thought that Desiree was an African American her husband shunned her and wanted nothing to do with her.
Chopin sets the context for her argument by Placing Désirée in an environment where she can be made black easily, but with significant consequences. Despite Désirée’s ability to effortlessly assimilate into southern society, taking on the role of the “beautiful, gentle, affectionate and sincere” southern belle, the story never loses sight of her “obscure origin” (#). As a result, Désirée is not given the opportunity to prove h...
Vivian Vande Velde uses the mechanics of reversal throughout “Twins” to teach the moral lesson that even if people are inherently good, they still may never reach their deserved successful conclusion.
Although Armand truly loved Desiree, his love wasn’t stronger than protecting his family’s status. He knew from the beginning that it was he who was not white. Hoping that his child would not come out black, he still took precautions by marrying a woman with an unknown origin to put the blame on. He hated himself for what he truly was and he was not going to let anyone know his secret and have that kind of power over him. It was never Desiree’s fault and she ended up suffering when it was really Armand’s doing.
Desiree is a lady who completely relied on her husband for any type of support. Desiree became powerless when Armand rejected her and the child when he noticed the infant’s change in skin color. Without having Armand in Desiree's life, she had low self-esteem and did not have the will to live anymore. For the most part there was a large amount of racism in the story as well as the feeling that ladies too are not equivalent to men.
When Désirée had the baby, her mother noticed immediately that something was wrong with the baby; Madame Valmonde screamed “This is not the baby!” It wasn’t until when the baby was 3 months old that Désirée noticed the appearance of the baby and demanded an answer from Armand. Armand noticed this early already, so he told Désirée that she was at fault for the baby being black, “It means,” he answered lightly, “that the child is not white; it means that you are not white” (424). Désirée believed this because no one knew of her past. This distinctly shows how Désirée’s character lives to learn how close racism and male dominance can get in Southern life. For instance, when Armand says, “The child is not white; it means that you are not white” (424). This is when Armand realizes his wife is not the same as he is, and from this moment on, wants nothing to do with either her or their child. In the beginning of the story, Armand was deeply in love with Désirée, and still was, until the moment he realized their baby was not white. This is a glimpse of how life was in the South. Chopin offers a compelling vision of the class-based and racial prejudice of the South. As many critics would agree, Chopin’s stories have “the freshness which springs from an unexplored field—the quaint and picturesque life among the Creole and Acadian folk of the
She tries to prove to Armand that she is white, “whiter than you.” With this discovery she instantly sends a letter to her mother. When the letter returns, Desiree learns that she is adopted and cannot prove that she is white. Her mother tells her to come home to her and that she will treat her no different than before. Desiree then realizes what is to happen and that she must protect her son. She knew there was only one option for her, so she took her baby to die with her, she “disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again.”
In Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin references discrimination in Creole, Louisiana during the antebellum period. Race has continuously left a significant impression on the past and continues in today’s society. African Americans were always seen as the failures, and treated harshly because the color of their skin. They didn't have any voting privileges or equality compared to that of Caucasians. Desiree’s Baby depicts how racial discrimination can control ones way of living even in intimate relationships. Race and birth history is a strong theme throughout. Desiree was adopted into a high socioeconomic status. She herself was not really sure of her origin. The concept of birth history first appears when Desiree is found by Monsieur Valmonde and rumors begin to fly as to who Desiree is and her origin. Madame V...
How Desiree became an element of a distressed heroine is in this recent era compared to the other gothic literature is her having a baby was the cause. She was starting out to be very happy to have a child along with her husband. Until the child has some pigment showing and looking at another child besides her’s is when she realized her child is “flawed.” Since it’s during slavery and pre-Civil War times, she finally noticed that the child is part black, which put her in a hysterical state of mind. Especially when she goes over to her husband and wanted to prove to him that she is a white woman as the quote states:
In the story, Desiree is the victim of prejudges, ones that she has no way to defend herself of. Desiree’s character through out the story stays pretty much the same. In the beginning she’s said to be beautiful, gentle, affectionate, and sincere and for the most part stays that way until she she gets her heart broken by Armand. Desiree becomes numb completely dead inside. She grabs her baby and leaves her home to go to her mothers. But instead of going to her mother, Desiree Disappears into the bayou with her baby and never returned again.
Desiree is a "beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere young woman."(p. 31) Armand, a young plantation owner, falls in love with her "as if struck by a pistol shot."(p.31) Armand's love for her is described as a "prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles."(p.31) Armand and Desiree marry and have a baby early in
It was already made clear multiple times throughout the story how Desiree felt about all the changes that were occurring. She was miserable and saw no point in living. After knowing that, it is easy to infer that she chose to drown herself and her child, rather than going home to her mother. A few weeks after leaving, Armand holds a large bonfire in his yard burning all the belongings of Desiree’s and the baby’s. Everything from clothing, to the crib the baby slept in, to the early letters that were exchanged between the two of them before marriage. Among those letters, was one from his mother to his father. The letter explains why she left, stating she was happy to be away because it meant that Armand would grow up not knowing that his mother was actually black. The fact that Armand had this letter in his possession means that he knew for some time the truth of his heritage. However, to keep from harming his name, he led Desiree to believe that she was the black parent, which led to her untimely demise.
“Desiree was happy when she had the baby and Armand was as happy and nice to the slaves then before but after he saw his child growing to be mixed it changed his whole attitude” (Griffin). This shows how the story takes place during slavery time, since the husband was a slave.