"Desiree's Baby"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the light and dark imagery in Kate Chopin's story "Desiree's Baby" reinforces the social value placed on skin color in the time period and setting of the story and how, it is also a source of irony. It looks at how the mixed-race child delivered by the main character raises a question that has an unexpected answer and how the irony of the answer is caused by faulty assumptions that characters make and accept until the real truth comes to light. It shows how images of darkness and light reflect on people, physical setting and secrecy and truth.

From the Paper:

"The author alludes to Armand's "dark, handsome face" a number of times, but suspicion for the responsibility of the dark-skinned child still falls on Desiree's white shoulders because her parentage is unknown. When the child reaches three months old, Desiree begins to realize that the "love-light seemed to have gone out" of Armand, but she does not understand why until one hot afternoon as she watches her child sleeping on the bed. Suddenly, the realization that her baby has a similarity with the quadroon child who is fanning the baby with peacock feathers dawns on Desiree and she feels her veins turn to a paralyzing "ice." "

More papers on "Desiree's Baby":

• Analytical Essay # 49865 : "Kate Chopin's "Desiree's Baby"
• Book Review # 98490 : "Desiree's Baby"
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• Book Review # 123627 : "'Desiree's Baby' and Racism"

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