Unknown Origins

Allison S Curseen64 Comments

The short story, Désirée’s Baby by Kate Chopin was published in 1892. The story is set in the time before the Civil War, somewhere in Louisiana on a plantation. It begins when the main character, Désirée, is found abandoned next to a big stone pillar by Madame Valmonde. She raises Désirée and when Désirée is grown up, a man named Armand Augbiny sees her in the same spot that she was found some years before and decides that he wants to marry her, despite her unknown origins. The couple make eachother very happy, and they decide that they will have a child. The child brings even more joy into their life, until one day Armand Augbiny discovers that the child has a dark complexion. He assumes that it must come from Désirée, as nobody knows who her parents are. Désirée and the baby leave Armand in shame, only for Armand to later on discover a letter that suggests he may be African American, as his mother comes from an enslaved race.

When examining the paragraph in which Augbiny discovered that the child was black, Choppin uses diction such as subtle, mystery and strange. All of this language helps to bring to light the tension that was felt by Désirée during the time before she knew why her husband was angry. Additionally, Armand “spoke to her with averted eyes” where the love seemed to have been lost (Désirée’s Baby). This helps readers to better understand the expectations of southern people during this time period. In a matter of seconds, Armand went from happily in love with Désirée to not even being able to stand the sight of her all because he felt that a black child would bring shame upon him and his family.

I enjoyed this story very much because of the way that it was left open ended. Just because Armand has some race other than white in his blood does not rule out the fact that Désirée may not be fully white herself. After all, we still do not know who she is or where she came from. This type of story can leave you thinking for hours about the truth of the matter, which is why I particularly enjoyed this one. The subject matter of this story is similar to Say Yes by Tobias Wolf due to the fact that in both stories, the main male figure can not envision a life in which they love a balck person. 

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