Desiree's Baby By Kate Chopin Essay

Kate Chopin’s work, “Désirée’s Baby” not only breaks down new barriers to literature but embraces the Realism era with open arms. Chopin’s works were unlike any literature that had been produced before. She embraced the truth and was unafraid of people’s opinions of her female characters. This explains why her works are still read and are popular even in today’s era. In “Désirée’s Baby,” Chopin creates an authentic piece of literature which lays out a strong theme of the prejudices against racism found during the late 1800s. The story begins with Désirée’s mother coming to visit the baby after not seeing them for a month. As she enters the room and sees the baby, the mother is shocked at the baby’s dark skin tone. This is Chopin’s first

Armand, who is the father of the baby, becomes a recluse to Désirée and the child. He refuses to acknowledge their existence and avoids eye contact with them. Additionally, Armand transitions from a joyful and loving state to a more hardened and hateful state. Chopin’s reasoning behind Armand’s actions toward the race of his own child is a representation of how all non-African Americans reacted towards the slave race. After weeks of this treatment, Désirée confronts Armand. Armand quickly blames Désirée saying “it means… that the child is not white; it means that you are not white” (541). Due to Désirée ‘s lack of knowledge of her background it becomes easy for her to be blamed. Later, Désirée leaves their home along with the child and goes into the swamp never to be seen again. Chopin uses the scene of Désirée fleeing into the swamps as the underlying theme against the discrimination against races. The scene represents how many of the slaves would have to flee from their “homes” and remain unfound from their masters. This ties up Chopin’s’ strong theme against the prejudices of race, and the challenges faced from people of opposing