Kate Chopin was a writer, mother, and strong feminist. She lived in St. Louis, Missouri during the Civil War time period where women were not treated as equals, and she wanted to change that (Wyatt). Her family was slaveholders and Chopin represents this into some of the imagery and symbols that are portrayed in some of her works. She died in 1904 leaving her voice in her works (Wyatt). Some of her works include: The Awakening, “A Respectable Woman”, and “The Story of an Hour” (Wyatt). In the short story “Desiree’s Baby”, Kate Chopin uses characters, themes, and symbols to explore female independence in order to produce a change. The characters in “Desiree’s Baby” play a large role in displaying different scenarios depicting universal stereotypes.
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Racism is a major theme (Korb 79). Armand expressed racism towards all people of dark-skinned descent because he was a plantation owner and he did not see dark-skinned people as human beings. He believed that they were property. Armand became hostile towards Desiree because the baby was dark-skinned and he assumed that she was keeping her ancestry from him so he told her to leave. He based the worth of a person on their race instead of their personality, and if it was not a race he necessarily liked then he would behave cruelly towards them (Nader). Another theme that can be found is judging appearances. Armand judged Desiree’s appearance because he only truly loved her for her beauty and not for who she was. He also judged the baby because it did not look like him so he immediately rejected the child which goes back to the theme of racism. Gender bias is a theme that Chopin is trying to make visible with this story. Both Desiree and Armand displayed that they think women are not as equal as men. After all, this is how society was back then. Armand would devalue Desiree and she would just stand and take it without defending herself. Most of the time women were treated as just a sexual object. Desiree can be used as themes in herself. She would represent the themes of female independence and sexuality (Korb 77). Although Desiree is neither independent nor feminist, Chopin uses her as a middle-man to let …show more content…
The first form of symbolism that is exposed to the reader in the story is the description of the solemn oaks. The solemn oaks are a couple of oak trees that represent a symbol foreshadowing a dark and unpleasant ending. The bonfire is a main symbol used by Armand. Armand uses the bonfire to destroy and burn all of Desiree’s possessions along with the baby’s possessions (Evans). He also mentally tries to destroy all of the memories between Desiree and the baby (Werlock). This is a physical action that expresses Armand’s anger at Desiree and his desire to get her out of his mind. Also, it is a physical action of passions towards losing his wife (Werlock). In this bonfire the truth is revealed (Werlock). Along with all of Desiree and the baby’s possessions, Armand finds a letter from his mom, who left when he was very young. The letter was addressed to his dad identifying her as a dark-skinned woman. She seemed to have a joyous tone because she was glad at the fact that he would never know of his dark-skinned ancestry (Evans). Reading this letter made him acknowledge the hurt and misjudgment that he had caused. The bonfire could also be used to symbolize a major turning point in the story (Evans). The bonfire has a symbolic but it also has an ironic name. Fire was sometimes used to expel light if not warmth and this particular bonfire shed light on the truth that was in the dark for a very
Racism is a major theme (Korb 79). Armand expressed racism towards all people of dark-skinned descent because he was a plantation owner and he did not see dark-skinned people as human beings. He believed that they were property. Armand became hostile towards Desiree because the baby was dark-skinned and he assumed that she was keeping her ancestry from him so he told her to leave. He based the worth of a person on their race instead of their personality, and if it was not a race he necessarily liked then he would behave cruelly towards them (Nader). Another theme that can be found is judging appearances. Armand judged Desiree’s appearance because he only truly loved her for her beauty and not for who she was. He also judged the baby because it did not look like him so he immediately rejected the child which goes back to the theme of racism. Gender bias is a theme that Chopin is trying to make visible with this story. Both Desiree and Armand displayed that they think women are not as equal as men. After all, this is how society was back then. Armand would devalue Desiree and she would just stand and take it without defending herself. Most of the time women were treated as just a sexual object. Desiree can be used as themes in herself. She would represent the themes of female independence and sexuality (Korb 77). Although Desiree is neither independent nor feminist, Chopin uses her as a middle-man to let …show more content…
The first form of symbolism that is exposed to the reader in the story is the description of the solemn oaks. The solemn oaks are a couple of oak trees that represent a symbol foreshadowing a dark and unpleasant ending. The bonfire is a main symbol used by Armand. Armand uses the bonfire to destroy and burn all of Desiree’s possessions along with the baby’s possessions (Evans). He also mentally tries to destroy all of the memories between Desiree and the baby (Werlock). This is a physical action that expresses Armand’s anger at Desiree and his desire to get her out of his mind. Also, it is a physical action of passions towards losing his wife (Werlock). In this bonfire the truth is revealed (Werlock). Along with all of Desiree and the baby’s possessions, Armand finds a letter from his mom, who left when he was very young. The letter was addressed to his dad identifying her as a dark-skinned woman. She seemed to have a joyous tone because she was glad at the fact that he would never know of his dark-skinned ancestry (Evans). Reading this letter made him acknowledge the hurt and misjudgment that he had caused. The bonfire could also be used to symbolize a major turning point in the story (Evans). The bonfire has a symbolic but it also has an ironic name. Fire was sometimes used to expel light if not warmth and this particular bonfire shed light on the truth that was in the dark for a very