Kate Chopin's "Desiree's Baby"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the core theme of Kate Chopin's short story "Desiree's Baby" is race and race relations. The author points out that the reader should be aware of the clues, sprinkled throughout this dark story, which reveal the real character of Armand and hint at the twisted ending. The paper relates that the clues in the story, from the dark, brooding house to the unhappy slaves to the stigma of a child, which appears to have black blood, are symbols of the racism rampant in the South before and after the Civil War. The paper includes many quotations.

From the Paper:

"Chopin creates a chilling work that seems at first to be light and loving. The truth is that Armand blames the child's origins on Desiree, who cannot cope with the loss of his love and kills herself because of it. He is little more than a murderer because he hides the truth from everyone and lets Desiree bear the shame of carrying Negro blood, when it is really Armand himself who is the culprit. The story is horrifying and especially so because the ending is so shocking."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chopin, Kate. "Desiree's Baby." PBS.org. 2007. 20 March 2007. <http://www.pbs.org/katechopin/library/desireesbaby.html>
• "Kate Chopin: Complete Novels and Stories." The Atlantic Monthly Nov. 2002: 125.
• McLeod, Lisa J. "The Wages of Sin: Glenn Loury's the Anatomy of Racial Inequality." Social Theory and Practice 29.2 (2003): 343+.
• Sharfstein, Daniel J. "The Secret History of Race in the United States." Yale Law Journal 112.6 (2003): 1473+.

More papers on Kate Chopin's "Desiree's Baby":

• Analytical Essay # 83733 : "Kate Chopin's Short Stories"
• Analytical Essay # 49865 : "Kate Chopin's "Desiree's Baby"
• Analytical Essay # 18078 : " Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin"

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