Desiree Baby

Never Judge a Book by its Cover
Why does race matter in a relationship? Great figures in history have noted that race should never play a role in any relationship. Allowing race to impact a relationship could easily cause it to fall apart, leading to both sides being hurt in the end. In Kate Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby”, the race of Desiree and Armand’s child cause Armand to turn a cold shoulder to his wife and his child, eventually driving Desire to suicide.
Armand family was old and wealthy and was very important to the Louisiana plantation. He was light skin and handsome, but his mother had black skin. His mother died when he was eight years old, so he doesn’t remember the skin tone of his mother. Armand states his name was “One of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana” (1). Therefore, Armand was born into wealth. On the other hand, Desiree was abandoned and was taken in by the Valmonde’s family. Desiree and Armand met as children growing up on the plantation. But on that time, Armand not loved her. “The wonder was that he had not loved her before; for he had known her since his father brought him home from Paris, a boy of eight, after his mother died there.”(1) Falling in love with Desiree felt to Armand as if him “Had been struck by a pistol shot” (1); feeling as though his emotional towards her went past fast hard. This relationship lead to marriage and Armand gives Desiree the name he said he would. Armand didn’t want Desiree to mistreat the name that was given to her since the name she had received was very important due to Armand family background. Over period of time Armand and Desiree had a baby boy. After having the baby, it leads to a drastic change in Armand’s emotions towards his wife. I can say that Armand is a racist, because he has strict rules to his slaves. And his slaves are Negrillon. Before he married Desiree and became a father, he was very stick to his Negrillon. After birth of his son and wife “Marriage, and later the birth of his son had soften Armand Aubigny’s” (2). The race of the baby led Armand to think otherwise about everything about his wife, Desiree. He feels as if he was lied to.
The race of the three month old baby made Armand have a cold shoulder towards Desiree. He believes Desiree is not white and blames Desiree for the “Unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and name” (3). He feels as though she has caused confusion and ruckus within the family. Therefore Desiree had disrespected the name that was given to her. Intentionally he didn’t care where she was from but his actions shoed differently. He tries to stay away from the home and speaks to neither Desiree nor the baby. After Desiree received a letter from her mother saying come back home, Armand tell Desiree to leave.
Armand he couldn’t take the stress of the stress anymore so therefore he told his wife to leave. She didn’t want to leave her marriage, but as she said her good byes to her father of her child he never answered her. So she knew that was the last straw. After all, the stress Armand cause, Desiree simply gives up. She gives up on her husband and baby. She gets her baby, walks barefoot into a field that led her to somewhere. “She disappeared among the Reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep sluggish bayou; and she didn’t not come back again” (4). Therefore, Desiree killed herself and the baby because of the stressed with the race of their child Armand causes. Armand reactions to his son Quadroon appearance ultimately cause Desiree’s death. A beautiful and loving family is torn apart because of race. Without knowing someone should never judge or label a person a liar without knowing them and the full truth. Because there’s three sides to every story; both sides of the party and the truth .So in the end, never judge a book by its cover.