In Desiree’s Baby, by Kate Chopin, the story deals with race issues and what a difference it makes in the lives of the characters. Although a person has no choice in what color their skin is, it makes a huge difference in their social class and how others treat them. Women had very little if any say so in their lives in even the smallest of matters. Women were at the mercy of the men in their families to make almost every decision for them and there were dire results if the men did not have their best interests at heart. The slaves had it the hardest of all because they had even less control over their lives and were even more venerable to the plantation owners and any free person. Chopin uses contrast to highlight the drastic and extreme differences between the race, gender, and classes in the antebellum American South.
Chopin uses the race issues with the baby and Desiree to give an example of how just how much feelings and attitude could change because the color of not
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It highlights the drastic differences in people’s lives just because of the color of their skin, the gender they were born, and most important, how much wealth they have. If you can pass for white, happen to be born a male, and have wealth, the world is your oyster to open. You can pluck the pearl from the safety of the oyster’s cavity and do with it what you will. Much like taking a young woman as your bride from another wealthy family and treating her as you wish, or buy a slave and separating that person from their family and treating them as you want. You can do almost anything you want, and very few people will question or care what you do. Most importantly no one will ask or question your actions, or your ancestry. Women and slaves happiness and security depended on the men who held their lives in the palm of their hand. If that hand was not kind, they had a desperate life