Story of Desiree's Baby - Written by Kate Chopin

Story of "Desiree's Baby"

In the short story, "Desiree's Baby" written by Kate Chopin in 1892 and published in 1893, there is a sense of karma and consequences that is used in the story. The story states the fact of how race and pride take over love. The problem of racism overcoming between the love that Armand has for his wife. For instance, when Armand told Desiree "yes, I want you to go" here Armand pushes his wife away with his child because of the fact that she is black and that that's Desiree's fault if their child is mixed, his pride is much more important to him than her family. Because he had to protect his pride in any cost, that is the reason why he wanted his wife and his baby to leave, he did not want people to frown upon him or make him into a joke so, he tried to feel like, he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name. Armand's reaction over his family show that he is racist and he didn't want any near black in his beloved family and name that he protect above all and everything like he don't want his name to be crushed. During the essay I will examine how Armand's pride was bigger than the love for his own wife, and how race changed everything.

First of all, we discuss about race in this text, by the time the story was written, the slavery just end up, race was an issue for people before and still, because during those days, if you are black, you are such a slave, you are not respected by anyone. The whites were the bosses and they don't like to be mixed, at that time, marrying a black woman was like dishonoring your family name, that leads why, when Armand assumed that his wife was black, he wanted her to leave ride away before people find out and talk behind his back, and he also wanted to protect his name from being dishonored. Racism did play a major role in the story because when it was found out that the baby was mixed everything changed such as Armand's mood and Desiree's happiness. 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. The love, he had for Desiree change completely as he knew that she was black, he fell out of love with Desiree as he fell in love with her, and he couldn't stand the fact that she is black. Armand's love for Desiree was superficial instead of a deep seated feeling, because his love for his wife started to change when the baby start growing up and changing. For example, in page 2, the last paragraph, "when the baby was three months old, Desiree awoke one day to the conviction that there was something in the air menacing her peace. It was at first too subtle to grasp. It had only been a disquieting suggestion; an air of mystery among the blacks; unexpected visits from far-off neighbors who could hardly account for their coming. Then a strange, an awful change in her husband's