Family is Family

Allison S Curseen85 Comments

Désirée’s Baby, written by Kate Chopin, follows the story of an orphan who grows up to marry a plantation owner in Louisiana, sometime before the Civil War. Désirée grows up with Madame Valmonde, and when she is old enough, she marries lifelong friend Armand Augbiny. Armand and Désirée move on to have a baby and live happily, with Désirée even believing that her and the baby had changed Armand into a more loving and caring human being. But, one day Armand notices that the child has grown up to contain a darker skin color and complexion. Armand then angrily accuses the baby and Désirée of being black, and when Désirée’s mother finds out, she sends a letter calling for Désirée and the child to return home. Armand agrees and orders his wife and child to leave, but shortly afterwards finds a hidden letter containing information regarding his own origins and ancestry, and vague proof that Armand may in fact be black himself instead of his wife Désirée.

This powerful and intriguing short story summarizes the life of Désirée and Armand and their child, leading up to the unfortunate climax of dissolution between the family. Kate Chopin builds up to a very shocking truth when she hides both the ancestry of Désirée and Armand throughout the story. But, Chopin does leave hints throughout that could infer that Armand could in fact have an erroneous sense of ancestry. For example, when describing Armand, Désirée says, “Armand’s dark, handsome face….” and later says when arguing, “Look at my hand; whiter than yours.” Readers are left to debate and question how the child is black, when we assumed all characters were white. But, both of these seemingly obvious hints give in to the anticipation of figuring out the family’s background and ancestry.

While this short story could have been drawn out to include more details, I believe it is almost better for some parts to be summarized. While still mysterious and leaving us with questions, the story opens up the door for many differing opinions and arguments to be made by the audience. For this reason, I enjoyed reading and deciphering Désirée’s Baby. My argument resides with the fact that I believe it should not matter if the child is black, if Désirée is black, or if Armand is black, as a family should not have discrimination, especially internally. Instead of worrying about their skin color, the characters should be excited to find out more about their unknown origins. This feeling and argument is similar to the one I have pertaining to another short story: “Say Yes” by Tobias Wolf, where the male figure is angry about the idea of an interracial family.

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