Realism beginnings can be traced to regionalism. Regionalism is a type of literature that focuses on a certain region and portrays ideas about that region such as a region's customs and characteristics. One work that illustrates regionalism and make it a great example of realism is Kate Chopin's "Desiree's Baby". In "Desiree's Baby", Chopin portrays regionalism by describing about the treatment of slaves and about the racism that occurs in Louisiana.
             Chopin describes to us about the slave workers, who ranged from little children to old people. The little children were used for many purposes such as fanning and doing other minor jobs. The adults were used to do hard labor. Jobs that they were forced to do were picking cotton and farming. This was typical in the South and in areas such as Louisiana because white owners felt that they didn't want to do the dirty work themselves so they force other people, slaves, to do for them. Despite the hard work of the slaves, their owners treated them with no respect and the ruling of the owner was very harsh.
             Another characteristic that Chopin talks about is racism. In "Desiree's Baby", it was the racism in Armand that killed his wife. When Desiree had the baby, her mother noticed immediately that something was wrong with the baby; Madame Valmonde screamed "This is not the baby!" It wasn't until when the baby was 3 months old that Desiree noticed the appearance of the baby and demanded an answer from Armand. Armand noticed this early already, so he told Desiree that she was at fault for the baby being black, "It means," he answered lightly, "that the child is not white; it means that you are not white." Desiree believed this because no one knew of her past, as this is described by the narrator, "Monsieur Valmonde grew practical and wanted things
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