Racial Tensions In Kate Chopin's Short Stories

The unique regionalism amid pre-Civil War Louisiana prompted a polarized general opinions concerning people of color. As with the rest of the deep south, in Louisiana the owning of slaves was a common and socially acceptable practice. However there were also many free African-Americans in the area who could work and live a relatively prosperous life regardless of the abundant racism and discrimination present in the region. With such a diverse population, mixed race "mulatto" and "quadroon" children were fairly prevalent. Nevertheless, racial tensions rose preceding the Civil War and all people of color, free and enslaved alike, experienced considerable amounts of prejudice. Such tensions were realistically captured in Kate Chopin's short story,
Additionally, Armand held onto the unjustified belief that Desiree was mixed and treated her coldly because of that belief. Like the rest of that society, he would turn inward and look upon himself, a wealthy landowning man from a distinguished family, and assume that his mixed blood was to blame for the race of the child. Therefore, because of his naive deduction, for a decent period of the story, Armand treats Desiree with disdain, questioning her origins, when it is really his own origins which should be brought into question. Moreover, there was also some situational irony in Desiree's love for her husband's appearance: she loved "Armand's dark, handsome face" until the thought that he was mixed came into her mind. From then on, she saw darkness of the hair or complexion as a sign of black predecessors. It is quite evident that her own prevalent intolerances from the conservative region clouded her judgement because even the thought of some mixed blood in her made Desiree write that "I shall die. I must