The issue of ethnic mixing was a crucial problem in the USA in the 19th century: “There are very large numbers of mulattoes. They are mistaken, and not unnaturally. A score of black children are passed unnoticed; one mulatto is observed. In a country peopled with only one race there might be as many children born out of wedlock as there are mulattoes in any one of the Southern States, but there would be no evidence to the eye. But where white and black are blended the yellow skin advertises the origin of its owner” the narrator emphasizes (Haygood, 2000, p. 8). The short story Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin dwells on the issues of ethnic mixing, slavery, racism in pre-war America concentrating on the prejudiced attitude toward mulattoes and appalling consequences of this attitude.
The narration is set in Louisiana and reveals the story of a young Desiree, who was adopted by a wealthy family of Creoles, Monsieur, and Madame Valmonde (Chopin, 2003, p. 1). Desiree is depicted as a “beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere” girl, a pure soul “sent to her [Madame Valmonde] by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection” (Chopin, 2003, p. 1). Moreover, light-hearted, marked by no taints, the girl is idolized in the beginning by her foster parents, the pride of the family, “the idol of Valmonde” (Chopin, 2003, p. 1). However, the origin of the girl is not known since she was believed to be “left by a party of Texans” who crossed Valmonde’s plantation one day (Chopin, 2003, p. 1).
From the beginning of the story, the reader anticipates the happy ending especially when the author describes the meeting of Desiree and Armand Aubigny who had fallen in love with each other at the first sight. Blinded by passion, Armand doesn’t pay much attention to the fact that Desiree is “nameless” (Chopin, 2003, p. 1). As far as Armand is concerned, he is a descendant of a wealthy, old and respected family in Louisiana. Armand’s mansion, “a sad looking place” surrounded by “big, solemn oaks with their thick-leaved, far-reaching branches shadowing the house like a pall”, may be symbolic of the personality of the owner (Chopin, 2003, p. 2).
Indeed, Armand is a strict ruler whose slaves “had forgotten how to be gay, as they had been during the old master’s easy-going and indulgent time” (Chopin, 2003, p. 2). Armand is proud of his origin regarding his family to be the proudest and the influential one.
Moreover, Armand’s world is concentrated on pride and condescension upon other people. Nothing initially explicitly indicates Armand’s black origin. However, some hints may inspire suspicions, such as Armand’s “dark, handsome face”. As far as Armand’s mother is concerned, she was French and died when the boy was 8 and nothing is revealed about her skin color. Taking into account that Armand was born in France where mixed marriages were not regarded as the issue for disdain, it may be suggested that Armand’s origin is not obscure as well as Desiree’s.
It should be noted that since the story takes place before the Civil War, the issues of identity, origin, slavery ethnic mixing, and race were of vital importance and were associated with the persecution and neglect of Afro-Americans and all races other than white. A lot of evidence from the former slaves has been recorded that focuses on the attitudes that dominated towards Afro Americans and mulattoes in the 19th century in America.
Thus, an 80-years-old Clay Reaves, light mulatto, recollects the words of his mother who was a slave: “She said she was never sold. She said the Reaves and her children need never worry, they would never be sold. Mother’s grandfather was a white man. She was a Reaves and her children are mostly Reaves. She was light. Father was about, might be a little darker than I am (mulatto). At times she worked in the field, but in rush time. She wove all the clothes on the place. She worked at the loom and I lay up under there all day long” (Reaves, 2001, p. 17).
In contrast to Aubigny’s Afro Americans, the recollections of Clay Reaves state that the attitude towards slaves has not always been harsh and violent. Approaching this issue from another angle, it might be assumed that this record is only a conformance exception that confirms the common rule. Moreover, Guion Griffis states that in real life, the birth of mulatto child was not always an immediate trigger to divorce (Griffis, 2002, p. 820).
On the other hand, the example of Colonel Johnson in North Carolina who “attempting to introduce his mulatto daughters into a public Ballroom in Kentucky, among a large party of white people; declaring that these mulattoes were as good as any of the white ladies present; to marry these mulatto daughters to white men” was publicly disgraced causing controversy among the public and political debates in the government (Griffis, 2002, p. 820).
The story under consideration proves the same opinion. As soon as Desiree and Armand are married, Desiree gives birth to a baby boy, which “softened Armand’s imperious and exacting nature greatly” (Chopin, 2003, p. 3). The plot thickens when the atmosphere in the house changes from the light to the menacing. As soon as Desiree notices the color of her son’s skin is not white and links this fact with her husband’s cold treatment of her, she tries to find out the truth. The husband’s answer was shocking: “It means that the child is not white; it means that you are not white” (Chopin, 2003, p. 4).
Desire is shattered and has to go back to her family with her baby. Armand, in an attempt to erase all his memories about his wife and son, gathers all Desiree’s possessions intending to burn them but instead, he finds the letter of his mother that reveals his real origin: his mother was African. Ironically, the letter runs: “…dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (Chopin, 2003, p. 6).
Being prejudiced and quick in his judgments, Armand was the only one to blame for the destruction of his own and Desiree’s lives who ended up in a bayou with their child (Chopin, 2003, p. 5). On top of that, Armand loses the image of the descendant of a respected white family, the fact that was of crucial importance for him. Being quick in his decisions, Armand fails to notice that his skin is darker than Desiree’s but a slave to the widespread abhorrence of Afro Americans and mulattoes, young Aubigny ruins his happiness and the happiness of his family.
It should be stressed that Desire’s parents are loyal in the questions of miscegenation. However, the actual state of affairs was far from easy. On the one hand, Desire’s Baby might exaggerate the real state of affairs of 19th century America to achieve more literary impact. On the other hand, the aversion to miscegenation was a common issue in the 19th century in Southern America. Thus, “coloured people [wasn’] allowed to go from one place to another [widout dey] had a ticket [wid dem]”, ex-slave recollects (Durant, 1937, p. 342).
Another evidence of such cruel behavior of the white people is stated in Benjamin Drew’s work: “When colored persons had their meetings in the groves, white men would stand with their whips where they were coming out, to examine for passes, and those who had passes would go free, — the others would break and run, like cattle with hornets after them” (Drew, 2000, p. 142). However, in Desiree’s Baby the author emphasizes that racism is counter-destructive both to white people and to suppressed race.
All things considered, it should be noted that Desiree’s Baby contrasting Desiree’s and Armand’s characters, examines the issues of racism, ethnic mixing, slavery, prejudice towards mulattoes, and Afro-Americans that prevailed in the 19th century in Southern America.
References
Chopin, K. (2003). “Desiree’s Baby.” In Short stories at east of the web. Web.
Drew, B. (2000). The Refugee. In Academic Affairs Library. Web.
Durant, S. (narrator). (1937). Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938. In Library of Congress: American Memory. Web.
Griffis, G. (2002). Ante-Bellum North Carolina: A Social History: Electronic Edition. In Academic Affairs Library. Web.
Haygood, A. G. (2000). Our brother in black: His freedom and his future: Electronic edition. Web.
Reaves, C. (narrator). (2001). Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938. In Library of Congress: American Memory. Web.