Desiree's Baby
The 19th century was a difficult time for many women and blacks because of the domination of white men over them. The social and economic hardships they faced in day to day life was a constant reminder of this domination. The social ideology in the story "Desiree's Baby" was powerful and dangerous and held no escape for any character. A woman with small children who lost her husband would face extreme hardships without the support of close family members. One who happened to be down on their luck would not find much sympathy among their peers even with children. Kate Chopin was one of these individuals who was down on her luck with six children. But fortunately had the support and comfort of her mother for a short period before her mother passed away. A friend advised this mother of six children that writing was a way to solve her problems concerning money and help deal with her grief. Maternal love and all the grief from losing loved ones were to be an attribute to the writing proficiency of this literary artist. This period in Louisiana was not tolerant for mixed ancestry and one found to be non-white would be ostracized from the white community. There were some whites in Louisiana who was not rac
Desiree confronted Armand and asked him to explain what the baby's color meant and how it happened, Armand immediately and harshly accuses Desiree of not being white like the baby. The practice of raping a slave or employee in those days was not uncommon. Armand was quoted as hearing the baby crying from "as far away as La Blanch's cabin"(2), the reason he was at the cabin could be he was using La Blanch sexually. Desiree finally went to Armand one last time hoping that his psychotic episode would be over but Armand did not deviate telling her he wanted her and the baby to leave. Madame Valmonde was wealthy but knew her influence would not be enough to help if anyone found out the baby was black. Desiree compares her skin color to that of Armand who is much darker than she is but he is not bothered by this inconsistency in his reasoning. It was during this episode that he discovered a letter from his mother to his father that revealed that it was indeed he who was black. In conclusion, the struggle for women and blacks continue and with changing social attitudes some things are improving for them but hatred and bias will be around for a long time. This was an important point in the story when the Monsieur found the baby Desiree near the front gate, it would mean that Desiree would probably never be aware of her biological parents ancestry. ist but they would still have to follow a strict code of segregation and social guidelines or risk social or bodily death. The story some proclaim contributed to Chopin's early success was "Desiree's Baby" in this story she mixed many feminist emotions from maternal love, to a wife's love and devotion to her estranged husband. During this period, some found it tolerable to leave a baby on the doorsteps of a family to provide a chance at a better life. The environment changed quickly on the L' Abri and Desiree was not aware of the circumstances that had changed it. A single mother knew there was little help to be found and the child would be hard pressed for a descent upbringing socially and economically speaking.
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