Similarities Between Desiree's Baby And Everyday Use

Our heritage is recognized as one of the most defining aspects of our identity, we can either embrace it or despise it, however, our racial ancestry is recognized as being more complicated and talked about in terms of conflict. The text Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin shares a common theme with Everyday Use by Alice Walker on the issue of racial heritage and the stigma surrounding it. In Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin, the theme of racial heritage is mainly expressed through Desiree’s Husband Armand, who faces his internal conflict with his possible mixed-race background that comes into conflict with his occupation as a slave owner and his marriage with Desiree. When Armand’s suspicions of his racial background are revealed by his external conflict,

The family quilt becomes the external conflict as Dee’s mother is reluctant to give her part of the quilt at first, she becomes furious and overlooks the real meaning behind the family quilt, causing tension in the family. After reading both texts one can realize where both characters relate and differ. Armand from Desiree’s Baby and Dee from Everyday Use have very similar internal conflicts with coming to terms with their racial heritage, but their reactions to the circumstances and external conflicts are significantly different, Armand denies it completely and blames everyone around him while Dee tries to recreate it and shun the shame out of

The differences between Armand and Dee are shown through their external conflicts, which are their reactions to their racial ancestry and how they cope with the societal stigma that surrounds the racial heritage they hail from. The internal conflict leaves both characters compelled to recreate a fake version of themselves, as taught by a society that their mixed-race or black-racial ancestry is nothing to be proud of, however, they later develop differently, Armand instead of improving as a person, he takes it out on the slaves and points the finger at Desiree in complete in-denial to his mixed-race heritage. Dee, on the other hand, tries to improve the image of her racial heritage but instead follows traditions and customs that are far from what her ancestors followed, but is starting to realize what her real heritage means when she sees the family quilt that dates back to many generations before her. One can see how society is the underlying determination of how these characters feel about themselves and see their heritage, this feeling is especially prevalent in the timeline that Desiree’s Baby takes place in with Armand, but we can see how these lingering effects still affect Dee in Everyday Use and continue to this day.