"Chopin creates... characters struggling to fulfill the needs for self-knowledge, for love, and especially for a place in life where they feel they belong." (Korp)
             All of these characteristics were exhibited in Desiree. Abandoned as a toddler and taken in by the Valmonde's as there own child. She assumes the identity of the Valmonde's but still not having a name of her own. After Armand Aubigny falls violently in love with Desiree, she takes on a new identity, the one of an Aubigny. With her new identity she begins to feel more contempt with herself.
             After the birth of their first child (a boy), she begins to feel uneasy about their relationship and his actions toward herself and their child. Being the person she is; she accepts his treatment:
             "Her lack of individual identity is underscored by his treatment of her as a possession instead of a beloved but human partner." (Korp)
             This especially after the child turns about three months old. Desiree begins to notice African characteristics on him. When Desiree brings this up to Armand's attention he accuses her of being an Octoroon. She denies it:
             "It is a lie; it is not true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown; and my eyes are gray..... And my skin is fair.....Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand" (p. 187)
             Armand denounce her more. She is basically saying that it is not her of African heritage but he is. This shows that Desiree is not letting race decide her feelings for her husband. She loves him and is willing to stay with him after such findings in a time where racial prejudice rules. Her letter, she sends pleading for her adoptive mother to tell Armand different is a plea for acceptance by Armand. She allows him to define who she is when she leaves the plantation with her son, never to be seen again.
             Desiree's attachment to the identity associated with Armand and his last name (Aubigny).
             ...