ut loved him.
             When he smiled, she asked no greater blessing of God." The way in which
             Desiree talks to Madame Valmonde about her son shows how much she adores
             him. Desiree is also very perceptive, and immediately senses that
             something is wrong even before Armand's manner changes. This causes
             Desiree to change; she becomes sad and listless, "miserable enough to die,"
             and when she discovers that her baby's skin color is dark, "the blood
             turn[s] like ice in her veins, and a clammy moisture gather[s] upon her
             face." However, Desiree never stops loving her child or her husband
             because her son is partly Negro, and this enhances the theme that judging
             someone based on skin color is wrong.
             Madame Valmonde is also very meaningful to the story. She has a
             portly figure and is very nurturing, and believes that Desiree was sent to
             her "by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection" since she
             has no children of her own. And that is how she raises Desireeâ€"as if she
             is Madame Valmonde's own child. Madame Valmonde does not care about
             ...