Desiree’s Baby Secrets-Causes and Effects Writing Assignment (Essay Sample)

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Desiree’s Baby. Secrets-Causes and Effects.
Desiree’s Baby is a short story written by Kate Choplin, an American, and it was published in the year 1893 during the antebellum period in Creole, Louisiana United States of America. Desiree is the adopted daughter of a very wealthy French couple, Monsieur and Madame Valmonde, whom they rescued at a shade of a stone pillar near the Valmonde' passageway where she was abandoned as a baby. Desiree’s’ ancestry was not known and therefore, this was the first secret in this short story it proved to have a tremendous effect on all the characters involved where it causes a lot of problems for them.
Furthermore, she is dated by a son of an equally respected, well known and very wealthy French family from the same neighborhood in Creole and by the name Armand. After courtship, they marry and had a baby which, from the people’s point of view was different and by different, they meant part black in a way that suggested that the baby had African ancestry. This was hard on Desiree and Armand’s love relationship and it brought adverse effects where the relationship is strained. Moreover, due to the fact that Desiree’s parents were unknown, Armand assumed that she was part black and therefore wanted her to leave.
Choplin explores how Armand kept Desiree’s secret of having a baby that was part African but little did gee know that he was the one with African ancestry in his bloodline. This led to Armand taking out personal belongings of Desiree and burnt them all including the letters she had written for him, also he burnt the baby’s cradle. Moreover in the letter he burnt were those of his parents. After she left, Armand felt that he was obliged to protect the family name that was very popular in the area and therefore he did not want anyone to know about the baby with African ancestry. Also, he did not want people to know because he was well known too and owing to the fact that he was a slave owner, he wanted to keep it a secret. This was a major blow to Desiree because she loved him so much and now she was asked to leave and she has had a baby with him. She did not take it too well but unfortunately, she left never to be seen again.
Armand’s love for her was not true but superficial where it was merely motivated by pride, class, and prejudice and eventually causing death and destruction. Also, his love for the baby boy was also not true because it was motivated by the fact that the boy will carry on his important family name. Therefore, this was a secret he carried all the time, lying to her and the baby that he loved them when he did not and all that mattered to him is his own family and how his family name will be portrayed. This scandal was so evil and scandalous that it caused him to withdraw from the society because of his pride and love for his family name. Also, he felt that everything that happened was all about him and therefore these consequences.
Furt...