The tragic story of “Desiree’s Baby” is full of twists and turns. It is filled with unification, love, and heartbreak. The love story of Desiree and Armand is dismantled by the effects of racism. Without race, it would have ended up like a fairy tale, happily ever after. However, due to the harmful effects of racism, Armand is unable to see past the fact that Desiree could be part black. Before the baby was born, Armand thought Desiree was beautiful and thought nothing of her unknown past. This is proven in the story when it states, “What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana” (Chopin 232). After the baby, Armand was willing to hurt the woman he once loved due to the simple fact that she could be different. Armand no longer saw the pure soul of Desiree, but rather the color of her skin. This proves that race is only as deep as one’s skin.
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Without racism, there is not separation of pure and impure skin. There would also be no separation of social class solely based on what the color of your skin was. In Desiree’s Baby, the resulting factors of racism are that Armand is left without a family, and Desiree is assumed dead. Neither side came out on top. In the end, the letter to Armand states that his mother belonged to the race that was cursed with the brand of slavery (Chopin 235). This proves that no matter what color you are, there is no one race that is better than everyone else. I also believe the character Desiree is synonymous with real life. If humanity continues down a path of racism and pain. The end result will be a disappearance of morals and ethics. Humanity may have started racism. But that does not mean that everyone has to follow it like Armand chose to do. He chose to abandon his own son and the woman he once loved based on a lie. As a society, we cannot give in to racism, because that will only lead us down a very long and painful path to
Without racism, there is not separation of pure and impure skin. There would also be no separation of social class solely based on what the color of your skin was. In Desiree’s Baby, the resulting factors of racism are that Armand is left without a family, and Desiree is assumed dead. Neither side came out on top. In the end, the letter to Armand states that his mother belonged to the race that was cursed with the brand of slavery (Chopin 235). This proves that no matter what color you are, there is no one race that is better than everyone else. I also believe the character Desiree is synonymous with real life. If humanity continues down a path of racism and pain. The end result will be a disappearance of morals and ethics. Humanity may have started racism. But that does not mean that everyone has to follow it like Armand chose to do. He chose to abandon his own son and the woman he once loved based on a lie. As a society, we cannot give in to racism, because that will only lead us down a very long and painful path to