Desiree s Baby Analysis Essay
There used to be a time where white people thought having African American blood in your family was wrong. It was thought of as a shame to your family or a disgrace to the name. Kate Chopin tells a story about a wife and husband who have a new child. Desiree, a white orphan that was adopted by the Valmonde family, is enthralled about the arrival of her baby boy and her husband Armand, a strict slave owner is also excited to see his first born son. However, the family begins to realize that something is mysteriously wrong with the newborn. They begin to notice that he is acquiring the traits of an African American and soon the couple start to narrow down the possibilities of the situation. In the story “Desiree’s Baby”, Kate Chopin uses symbolism and foreshadowing to portray that there is something eccentric about the baby and creates a mysterious plot that keeps the audience looking out for these clues. With the use of many symbols in her story, Chopin gives the audience insight into the depths of her work. Examples of this symbolism include the stone pillar, La Blanche’s cabin, and the bonfire. The stone pillar that Desiree was found lying upon by Armand when he had first “fallen in love with her”(1) was used to show her desolate background. Armand uses this symbol as a sense of safety because he knows he will be able to use Desiree’s unknown decent to blame her for a future failure or to cover up his own mistakes. At the end of the piece, we find out that the baby is mixed and Armand blames Desiree. Neither of them knows who really has African American in their blood but he automatically assumes that it is her because no one knows who her real parents are being that she is adopted. ”And the way he cries,” went on Desiree,” is deafening. Armand heard him the other day as far away as La Blanche’s cabin”(2), this is a strange line in the story and makes the reader question why Armand was in La Blanche’s cabin and what he was actually doing while he was