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Situational Irony In Desiree's Baby

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Kate Chopin is the author of a very popular short story called “Desiree’s Baby”. This story takes place in the 1890s, during the time of slavery and has to do with a white woman named Desiree Valmonde, who was abandoned by her parents and adopted by a married couple. It also has to do with a white man named Armand, who is Desiree’s significant other. Being the happily, healthy couple that they are, they decide to have a baby together, and when the baby is born Armand and Desiree were both delighted and seemed as if life couldn’t get better. As soon as the baby gets older, Armand started to notice that his baby’s skin was giving off the complexion of either a “quadroon” or “octoroon”- ⅛ or ⅛ African. He instantly blamed Desiree’s unknown background …show more content…

Situational Irony is when an event occurs that directly contradicts expectations (Teaching...1). During the story “Desiree’s Baby” Armand and Desiree have a baby, and everything is going great until the baby gets older. The baby starts to give off the appearance of an African and this causes Armand to be furious and unsatisfied for he claims he is a white man and at the time the Africans were considered low. He accuses Desiree unknown past for the cause of this and accuses her of being part African. He destroys his marriage and family and orders Desiree and the baby to leave and never come back.While being so enraged with anger he starts to burn everything that belonged to Desiree from all of her clothes and gowns to all of the letters they wrote to each other. In doing this he came across a letter from his mother intended for his father. When he opened and read it, he realized that he is part black and that he is the reason why the baby came out part African. The letter read “I thank God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (Chopin 5). This is a good example of irony because it is a very dramatic plot twist, nobody would have every expected this and it leaves the reader in “Awe” (Owleyes

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