The Father of Desiree’s Baby Essay Example

son Armand, who was a stereotypical cruel white slave master who insisted on perfect order according to his rigid rules.

The point of view in Chopin’s story is that of a third party narrator (“omniscient”) that observes, enters all the characters’ minds, gathers facts and impressions, and presents the gathered information for the reader to judge. Chapin does this in a setting in the ante-bellum south, specifically Louisiana, a settlement filled with a mixture of races and mixed-race people. These include the French, Hispanics, Native Americans, African Americans, Haitians, Cajuns, Creoles, and others.

While it is a melting pot of races and creeds, it reveals itself also as a hotbed of bigotry and snobbery. I connected with the bigotry in this story in Desiree’s victimization, because I am in large part Native American, but look white. I did not know my heritage until I was an adult. Others belittle Native Americans to me as uneducated, lazy drunks. They talk to me as one whom they think is white and whom they know has education, professional history, and accomplishments; but I let them spew ignorance and reply, “Oh, you mean like me?”

This takes them aback and we can then discuss the matter more intelligently. If I were to critique this short story, I would examine the characters and what they represent symbolically: Desiree as the embodiment of wrongful discrimination, Armand as an archetype of white bigotry, and the Valmondes as a representation of unconditional love. In addition, I would write more in depth about the themes of racism and gender discrimination and their origin. Finally, I would write about the ending twist

of the story and its impact on Armand’s future.

Of the literary elements used in this story, three are foreshadowing, conflict, and crisis. Foreshadowing occurs as Desiree wakes one morning to feel a depression in the air: “When the baby was about three months old, Desiree awoke one day to the conviction that there was something in the air menacing her peace“(paragraph 18). Conflict between persons and between an individual and society appear in Armand’s cold rejection of Desiree. He shuns her because he thinks she is black and therefore has contaminated his family’s white bloodlines.

This would ruin the family business and he would become a pauper because of what society thinks of mixed marriages. Desiree is hurt and confused by this. She escalates this conflict into crisis when she argues with Armand. She argues: “Look at my hair, it is brown and my eyes are gray, Armand you know they are gray. And my skin is fair,” “Look at my hand whiter than yours, Armand” (paragraph 26). This escalates the conflict between husband and wife into crisis because Armand does not believe her. Later, Desiree finally disappears into the bayou and Armand burns all the things she left behind.