The Rejection of Desiree's Baby: A Historical Analysis (Research Paper Sample)

The Rejection of Desiree’s Baby: A Historical Analysis
The lives of individuals are influenced to a wide degree by the society they live in. This has happened since time immemorial. Different norms and values have played a role in influencing the mind-set of people, and have affected the lives of individuals throughout history. The short story Desiree’s Baby is a classic example of a representation of a world where societal values influence the lives of the majority. This paper will cover a historical analysis of Desiree’s baby in line with how the societal values at the time frame the story is set in led to the rejection of the baby.
Furthermore, I have divided the paper into 7 sections to show the different factors that influenced the outcome. The first section provides a background of the short story Desiree’s Baby. The second section covers the views of the society at the time the story took place, and how they influenced the characters. In the third section, I discuss the issue of racism in the story, and further follow with a fourth section describing the idea of shame in relation to race. The fifth section explains how the different genders were viewed in society at that time and how this also played a major part in the rejection of Desiree’s baby. In the sixth section, I discuss how the technique of foreshadowing is used in the story to prepare the reader for the inevitable outcome. I conclude with a seventh section that explains the importance of the racism theme in the story, and how it shaped the outcome in relation to the baby.
Desiree’s Baby
Desiree’s Baby, a short story written by Kate Chopin, revolves around two individuals whose love is disintegrated by race and the values of the society. The setting of the story is in Creole Louisiana. This was in the period between the Civil and Revolutionary Wars. Slavery was a widely accepted practice in Louisiana, and slave owners “profited economically from the product of slave labor” (Jewett 124). Wealthy plantation owners who were only whites at the time, used to own African slaves who also served “as a measure of wealth” (Jewett 124). A large fraction of them were known to be cruel to the slaves. During that period, it was not uncommon for people to mistreat slaves, and “the planter elite retained much control over their slaves, regardless of the law” (Jewett 130). The general notion was that blacks were inferior compared to the whites.
The Society
During the era of slavery, the general consensus was that whites were superior to their black slaves to the extent that they were perceived to have power that will change the blacks slave status to free status. Moreover, the free blacks were not legally regarded as being equal to free whites. Interracial mixing was forbidden to the extent that the state police could use their power to criminalize and prohibit interracial marriages. During the Pre Civil-War period, the Miscegenation in Creolewas characterized by detest of interracial sexual relations and interracial marriage; miscegenation laws acted as a practice of dictatorship as they were “policing the racial borders of white supremacy” (Pascoe 86). Miscegenation was looked down upon to the extent that it was forbidden. During those times, it was a powerful belief that interracial marriages were naturally intolerable.
The society shunned such acts and people embraced the widespread ideology. Acting against the society by opting to have any relations that were deemed inappropriate was resented. It tainted the name of an individual and the family of the person. Many people avoided such relations due to pressure from the society.
According to the narrator, Armand no longer felt strong affection towards Desiree because of the unconscious injury she had brought to his name and his home. In turn he rejected her and their baby. The fact that he rejected her simply because he thought that she was of mixed heritage indicates that he put race before love. When Armand finds out about the baby’s heritage, his feelings are expressed as “no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and name”(Chopin 424). Their relationship was dealt a blow simply by the thought that she was of mixed racial ancestry.
Racism
Armand Aubigny, one of the main characters of the story, inherited his father’splantation, which was known as L’Abri. He falls in love with Desiree and both decide to take up residence at the plantation. Armand shared the sentiments of many American men of the south during the mid-nineteenth century (Heuman 44). He based a person’s worth on the race of the individual. He believed that whites were superior and he did not respect slaves. He was a strict master who ruled with an iron fist. The implication, “very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slaves” (Chopin ), shows how devilish and inhuman manner he treated his slaves.
According to him, having a child of mixed racial ancestry was unbearable. When it came to his attention that his child had mixed blood, his life shattered before him. Everything changed and the love that he had for his wife and son evaporated. He had even become more compassionate and composed after his child was born. His behavior changed and became a better man. This was reflected by the way he started treating the slaves. He stopped punishing his slaves after the baby was born.
However, after discovering the truth he went back to his old ways. He again became cruel and sullen. He could not bear being married to someone with mixed heritage and raising a child with Negro blood, a common thinking among slave owners who believed in the “inferiority of persons of African descent” (Haggart 64). These factors prompted him to chase away his wife and son from L’Abri. He even went to the extent of burning their household items and clothing in a bid to erase their memory completely. Armand was confident that his lineage and race were superior. After realizing that his son was of mixed heritage, he felt that he was being punished. He thought that God was being harsh on him simply because he had a son who was not pure.
Another thing that should be noted, Desiree herself knew the repercussions of having a child of mixed heritage. Her reaction to the discovery of her child’s skin color and the conversations that follow shows that she knew that the outcome would be catastrophic. She knows that the issue is significant based on the societies attitude towards skin color. She knows that it is not possible for them to continue with the relationship as a result of the shame that having a child of mixed heritage would bring Armand and his family name. She is aware that things will change and even asks Armand if she should leave.
Shame
As soon as the truth came to light, both Armand and Desiree felt ashamed. Armand’s attitude towards the baby changed. He no longer wanted to be associated with him and forced Desiree to leave the home when he replied, “yes, I want you to go” to her agony (Chopin 424). He believed that Desiree was the one who had mixed blood, especially at a time where “white people were so deeply invested in supremacy, that the mere charge that a person might be Black was considered humiliating” (Pascoe 113). He felt that since she was the one who must have been of mixed ancestry the problem was hers and in turn he did not want anything to do with her or the baby. Slave owners based their judgments on skin color; they actually thought white skin was a sign of superiority.
Gender
During the 19th century, there was a huge disparity between the roles of women and men in society, “gender differences that stood at the heart of nineteenth-century marriage” (Pascoe 22). Men were considered the breadwinners and women were submissive to them. Men and women were not regarded as equal in the society. According to an article by Dan Shen published in the academic journal Poetics Today, the state of being black and female is much more devastating than that of being black and male.
All over the story, Chopin focuses on gender roles. Desiree became socially accepted when Armand gave her his name. Her stature was raised. The man provided legitimacy and validation for a woman and in turn she became accepted in society, an "unequal relationship between Désirée as a woman and Armand as representing masculinist oppression" (Shen 289). The unequal relationship is oppression against women.
In Desiree’s knowledge, skin color and truth about the baby would bring shame to his name, because “children born of these unions were defined as slaves” (Pascoe 25). With this is mind, she did not only ask him to leave because she was ashamed but als...