Desiree’s Baby – Essay
The short story “Desiree’s Baby” is written in year 1892 and published one year later by the writer Kate Chopin.
The story mostly focuses on our main character Desiree who is the protagonist, and her relationship with her husband Armand. We’re told about how Desiree is adopted by Monsieur and Madame Valmondé. The Valmondés are wealthy Creoles, and they live in Lousiana. Desiree was found by Monsieur Valmondé in the shadow of a stone pillar near the gateway to their house. The Valmondés of course raised her, and soon enough she was courted to a man called Armand, who also is from a respected and wealthy Creole family. The couple got a child together. But the child didn’t look like a child usually died. Its skin wasn’t white, but more likely the color of a quadroon slave boys. And because of the unknown roots of Desiree’s, Armand quickly assumes that Desiree was the one who was born by a black person. Of course Desiree tries to deny this accusing, but she is suggested by Madame Valmondé to return to them since she was living with Armand at this point. Armand also insist that she leaves. He burns all of Desirees belongings, even their child cradle and the papers Desiree had sent him during their courtship. But between all these papers, was also a letter from his mother to his father. This letter reveals that it actually is Armand who is part black.
In this short story, we mostly have to do with flat characters. Our protagonist is at said above Desiree, since it the story primary focuses on her, and her feelings and thoughts. She doesn’t have any physical antagonist though. The antagonist is more likely the norms which belong to that time the story takes place. Desiree doesn’t experience any adversity till it’s discovered that the child is black, and it’s assumed that she is the one who is half black. And here we are presented what was normal