The story “Desiree’s baby” is about a white woman has a baby who is black in a time when slavery and prejudice are still culturally accepted and due to her gender, she is forced to leave her home and take the baby so she can care for it by herself. Even though the audience learns later on that the reason for the babies race is because her husband (Armand) has a mixed heritage(76).In “Desiree 's Baby” the contrast from race, gender, and class define the struggle faced by Desiree because of the time period.
To begin with the ways in which contrast is shown through race in Desiree 's baby depict the struggle of being black or even mixed in a time period where racism and slavery are still very much present. With this being the pre civil …show more content…
Not to mention the difference resulting from the whether someone was either rich or poor. Do to there being African slaves at this time when Desiree had her baby and it turned out to have dark skin, then she was instantly declared to be a mixed breed who had no right to live with a rich slave owner which also ties into the gender as mentioned in the above paragraph(76). Even if there were no ways to prove whether she was mixed or not her husband couldn’t risk being undermined by his slaves by having a colored baby. Even if the baby was his and he was mixed which was proven through a letter that he read at the end of the story having a colored baby would destroy his social standing within his community. This is because all slaves were at the bottom of the class system with no right and no value to their lives as far as white people were concerned. Even a poor man living on the street would have more rights than a slave.
Even with all the contrast shown through Desiree 's baby Kate Chopin managed to capture the essence of the time period she had written about and reinforced the struggle faced by women just because of their gender. Also showing the pain that was brought upon a person if they were to be born colored. Instantly segregating them from the rest of the community and forcing them into a world of hardships and tortuous labor with no benefit to
To begin with the ways in which contrast is shown through race in Desiree 's baby depict the struggle of being black or even mixed in a time period where racism and slavery are still very much present. With this being the pre civil …show more content…
Not to mention the difference resulting from the whether someone was either rich or poor. Do to there being African slaves at this time when Desiree had her baby and it turned out to have dark skin, then she was instantly declared to be a mixed breed who had no right to live with a rich slave owner which also ties into the gender as mentioned in the above paragraph(76). Even if there were no ways to prove whether she was mixed or not her husband couldn’t risk being undermined by his slaves by having a colored baby. Even if the baby was his and he was mixed which was proven through a letter that he read at the end of the story having a colored baby would destroy his social standing within his community. This is because all slaves were at the bottom of the class system with no right and no value to their lives as far as white people were concerned. Even a poor man living on the street would have more rights than a slave.
Even with all the contrast shown through Desiree 's baby Kate Chopin managed to capture the essence of the time period she had written about and reinforced the struggle faced by women just because of their gender. Also showing the pain that was brought upon a person if they were to be born colored. Instantly segregating them from the rest of the community and forcing them into a world of hardships and tortuous labor with no benefit to