Racial Prejudice In 'Desiree's Baby'

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From colonial times and a tad after the civil war slavery was known in the United States. African Americans were discriminated and treated like property , torn away from their family , tortured and forced into working massive plantations. Biracial children were still considered slaves and not acknowledged by society. “Desiree’s Baby” is written during 1896 in a time where there was great amount racial prejudice in the south. “Desiree’s Baby” is a about a girl named Desiree who was found as a baby by Madame Valmondé and was raised her as her own without knowing about her origin. Eighteen years later a man named Armand Aubigny saw her and fell in love with her not caring about Desiree’s origin. He marries her and gives her a family of her own. Desiree has a baby and Armand has becomes soft .The baby turns three months old and rumors and gossips around L’Abri plantation and suddenly the joy that Desiree and Armand once felt goes away. Armand questions Desiree about her heritage and accuses her of not being white since the baby they had is black. Desiree writes to Madame Valmondé and tells her about the situation and she begs her to come home, after Armand loses his wife and baby he finds out that it was not Desiree that was not white but him that came from a white father and black mother who died.(Chopin, Kate, et al. “Desiree 's Baby Summary.” GradeSaver: Getting you the grade). So, in “Desiree’s Baby”, Kate Chopin uses literary devices such as characterization, conflicts and