EVADING THE INEVITABLE
Kate Chopin's short story "Desiree's Baby" is much more than a simple narrative; the story expresses very strong political and societal assertions. The story takes place in the 1840s on the Louisiana plantations in the midst of the disputes between the abolitionists and the pro-slavery theorists. During this time period, slavery was widespread and successful, but the abolitionists were persistent and powerfully challenged their opponents. They emphasized the words of The Declaration of Independence in addition to the laws of Christianity, both of which demanded "equality" as the way of life.In their own defense, the proslavery theorists put together a rationalization that made it seem as though slavery was necessary for racial relations. They claimed that African Americans were incapable of living productive, humane free lives and they used the African American's alleged failure to build a civilized society in Africa as their evidence. They rendered biological arguments that made it seems as though blacks were both physiologically and anatomically inferior to the white race and they exploited these ideas along with the horrifying, yet- ever- so- convenient idea of miscegenation in an attempt to frighten the people into acceptin
" The possibility of this disturbing predicament was torturing these ignorant people, who were deceived by propaganda and oblivious to the truth. People tend to simply concur with society simply because society is so fastidious. All of Armand's life he had struggled to conceal his defectiveness but it was only a matter of time before his past and reality caught up with him. The autobiography of Kate Chopin exposes the fact that Armand has had a relationship with one of his slaves and this could very well have been because he knew that his father had done this very same thing or it also could have been an attempt to torment this poor black woman whom he despised. Kate Chopin writes brilliant literature that is so much deeper than simple stories about specific individuals, who face different confrontations; there are complex ideas behind each of her characters and story lines that she hopes that readers will uncover. An anonymous pamphlet surfaced entitled, "Miscegenation: The Theory of Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro. But when the child ends up being black after all, his pride and spirit are destroyed and rather than face the demons that he has avoided all of his life, he blames Desiree and drives her to her death. Their only option was too accept this fact and create a peaceful world any way that they could. However, if Chopin would have included Armand's reaction to the letter, it would have been much more obvious that this was not a surprise to him after all. Reaching into the drawer one last time, he pulled out the last remaining item, a pistol. Although the story does not specify what happens to Desiree, one can assume that because she was "miserable enough to die," and felt that she "must die," that she has killed herself and either killed the baby as well or left the child somewhere to be found, just as someone had deserted her when she was a toddler (Barnet 77). He raised the pistol to his ear, "My Lord, I have betrayed my wife and my child, my own mother, and my race. One possible informative reaction would have been:A tear streaked Armand's cheek as he read the disturbing words for the final time and he reached for a picture frame from the ground, where it lay waiting to be chucked into the harsh flames. The story focuses on a young woman who was found abandoned as a small child and was taken in and nurtured by a loving couple, the Valmondes. She and the baby vanish forever into the bayou (which is simply a Louisiana French word that refers to any marshy or sluggish body of water).
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Acceptance Essays
