Desiree's Baby Themes
Racism and Slavery
Desiree's Baby examines the meaning of race and the violence that slavery perpetuates in both slaves as well as owners. It is established early in the story that Armand is a physically abusive slave owner, unlike his father, who continued to profit from the labor of slaves despite having a black wife. Armand is not just violent with his slaves, but like several other slave owners of the time, he rapes his slaves as well. Desiree knows about his rape of slaves, as she casually mentions the time he spends in La Blanche's cabin.
La Blanche is a pivotal character in the story, although she never truly makes an appearance. Her name can be directly translated from French to mean "The white one", and yet she is considered to be a slave. La Blanche makes us question the basis of slavery, as she doesn't share physical features with black people but is yet considered to be black. Chopin illustrates how race comes to be determined by factors like appearance or perceived heritage, both of which can be easily misconstrued. This arbitrary difference between white and black is displayed in the scene with one of La Blanche's children. The boy is most certainly Armand's son from La Blanche, and yet he continues to live a slave life while Desiree's baby sleeps in a throne-like bed. The author raises the irony of the situation further by having Desiree realize the similarities in their appearance during that interaction.
Desiree's reaction to being labeled black also reveals the violent attitude that people have towards race. Desiree writes to her mother, begging her to tell both Armand and other members of society that she is white since she could not live if that were not the case. Armand rejects her completely, and Desiree decides that she should kill herself as well as her baby rather than be labeled black.
Love
Love is a powerful emotion in Desiree's baby, that drives much of the action in the plot. The Valmondes shower love on Desiree without being aware of her background, just as Armand's father marries a black woman despite knowing about the perception of her race in America. Armand is shown to be susceptible to the same kind of love as his father since he becomes obsessed with Desiree and dismisses Monsieur Valmonde's reminder of her unknown origins. These origins then become a serious concern for him when he thinks that she might have black ancestors. In this way, the author shows us how Armand doesn't truly love Desiree as his feelings towards her change so quickly.
Parental love is another driving force of the story, and it first comes to the fore through the Valmondes. Madame and Monsieur Valmonde shower Desiree with love, an emotion that continues to exist even as Desiree is thought to be black. Desiree writes to her mother after Armand accuses her of being black. In her reply, Madame Valmonde tells her to come home with her baby, since her mother continued to love her. On the other hand, the tragedy of the story can be thought of as being brought about due to parental love as well. Armand's parents chose to hide his black heritage from him as they wished to shield him. However, it is this same lack of information that leads him to condemn Desiree and her baby.
Fate and Irony
Desiree’s Baby ends with an excellent ironic twist as Armand discovers that it had been his black heritage and not that of Desiree that had led to their child having African features. This is because Armand operates from a position of superiority and so it never occurs to him to question his background. He believes that Desiree is lower than him due to her status as a woman, and as an individual with no background. The irony of the situation is further heightened in the revelation of Armand’s African heritage through the language of the letter he discovers. His mother is grateful that her son will never discover that she belonged to the race that had branded the curse of slavery. This heightens the irony because Armand is established to be a cruel slave master and known to regularly exercise violence. Armand exiles Desiree from his life as an answer to the cruel fate that had chosen to ‘inflict’ him with a mixed-race child. In this instance, the reader can note the difference between Mrs. Valmonde’s understanding of fate against that of Armand. Madame Valmonde sees Desiree’s appearance to be fated and embraces her into her life. Armand sees the birth of his child as a cruel stroke of fate and is in turn punished by fate when he learns of his African heritage.
