Desiree's Baby By Kate Chopin Essay

This is a short story written by Kate Chopin. It’s about Desiree having a child with Armand her husband. Armand was raised on a plantation which his father owned and Desiree was found as a child by Madame Valmonde which is her mother figure. The author’s main point is that the baby is dark, so Armand gets upset and blames it on Desiree’s unknown background, meaning that she probably has black blood in her. In “Desiree’s Baby”, Kate Chopin uses several conflicts to strengthen the plot of the story.
Desiree and Armand are the people having the main conflict in the story. The reason why they are conflicting is because Desiree has a child with Armand and the baby comes out darker colored. Armand begins to blame and acts distant with her because
he thinks it’s all Desiree’s fault that the baby came out the way it came out. Armand said “ that the child is not white it means that you are not white.”. He was so quick to say it was her fault and he didn't think it out completely before acting out in a shocking way. Armand is a dynamic character because he falls in love with her after the years of knowing her through his childhood because his father knew Desiree’s mother which was Madame Valmonde, she was a very caring and loving person because she took in Desiree as a baby left at her plantation gate. Armand's father has passed away before as the story begins he lived with his wife and Armand in Paris until his wife passed away and Armand leaves back to the plantation in Louisiana. He is in love with her throughout the majority of the story giving her all that she needs and loving her unconditionally, but changes his thoughts on her even though they are a couple already because of the color of the baby. “ Had fallen in love with her.” “He had not loved her before for he had known her since his father brought him home.” Armand was fighting with Desiree and shunning her away, Desiree felt heartbroken because of the way he dramatically changed and blamed her for the issue they are having. “Awful change in her husband’s manner.”

After they fought because of how the baby came out Desiree left Armand back to her mother Madame Valmonde.
Armand then had time to think of what he wants to do with Desiree and the baby. Thinking if he should leave them because of the hatred he has for blacks. It does not say in the story but it shows that he dislikes blacks. He was raised on a plantation where blacks were bought by his father to work as slaves. Work endless hours pleasing their master which was Armand’s father. Armand was not raised to hate blacks, but just because he saw the way they were treated by his father, his father’s actions, words, and feelings towards them rubbed off. Armand didn’t know what to think because of the way he was raised then to have his own child be dark skinned toned which angered him and caused him to act like a very different person then what he was. Desiree leaving him to go with her mother actually helped him because he was able to have time to think about what he wanted to do instead of him causing another scene and have more chaos happening . He had time to think about the baby, Desiree, and more importantly himself, Armand starts off as a great character in the story very loving and caring person. His heart was broken and he didn't know how to express the way he felt so he acted out in anger and frustration. In the other hand Desiree was saddened by the way Armand was acting because no matter what the baby looked like Armand should have loved the child from the first time he saw it because it was his own child. She couldn't take anymore of Armand acting the way he was acting so she picked up and left with the child. Desiree is the protagonist because she is the main character and the story revolves around her
life.
Armand had time to think about how he felt but didn't change his mind. Armand was now alone and still thought about desiree and the baby. He was so furious, the slaves kept bringing back memories of the baby because of their skin tones and that only made him more upset. By now Desiree was long gone back to her mother's where she is believed to have spent most of her time after her and Armand parted ways. Armand was trying to get rid of everything that was of Desiree. The last thing he threw out was “a tiny bundle of letters” Desiree had wrote to him while they were together. Armand then had found one last letter not written by Desiree but by his parents. He opened it read it and what he read was shocking, “Night and day, 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.” his mother wrote him. This meant that his mother was also black, she was probably one of Armand’s dad slaves that he had fell in love with and was never really talked about by his father. At the end of the story he is Barely finding out that his mother was black which means that he is also part black. The main conflict in the story was not entirely Desiree’s fault maybe not even her fault at all for not knowing where she came from, but now Armand knew that he was part black and the baby was also his fault or entirely his fault. He was so quick to react and blame and he didn't even think for a second that it could be his fault as well. From him being furious to him being confused about what he just read and how he felt. Armand was just too stubborn and wanted to believe it was all Desiree’s fault. Now Desiree is gone and will most likely not forgive him the way the story finished. Armand is now fighting with his own thoughts everything he ever thought that was right he probably thinks is wrong. His own mother which was believed to be a French woman is revealed to be a black woman it's so mind blowing and he was just sideswept by this letter.
The author’s main point is that the baby is dark, so Armand gets upset and blames it on Desiree’s unknown background, meaning that she probably has black blood in her. In “Desiree’s Baby”, Kate Chopin uses several conflicts to strengthen the plot of the story. This Story has many different conflicts but most for the same reasons.