Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin
"Desiree's Baby" is not a tragic short story by which a reader may be entertained by its ironic and catastrophic ending. It is a story of a crime and brutality against women of all generations to come, also how a woman may suffer and conceal her anguish for the sake of others. It is a story of innocence slain harshly by the unscrupulous power of harshness that directly governs human societies. This power which manifests itself through male supremacy is indeed very obvious throughout the entire story. It is Armand Aubigny who best represents this power, “a boy of eight” (439) at the beginning of the story, who once sees a nameless woman fell in love with her. It is initially revealed that all the men in his family have fallen in love the same why he does “that was the way all the Aubignys fell in love, as if struck by a pistol shot.” (439) the femininity in the story is portrayed in a nameless girl, Desiree, who was found in ‘the shadow of the big stone pillar.” (439) Armand gets married, after eighteen years, to Desiree. In this marriage relationship, it is possible to identify the distinguishing features that make manhood very distinctive; it possesses the highest position, as it is clear that Armand is a land owner who has a vast plantation and the power. A desire of possessing things is found on him. Before he gets married to Desiree, he used to mistreat his servants, now he treats them with a supreme courtesy. Moreover, his irrationality in taking decisions led him to commit a crime; after learning that that his baby is colored, he instantly accused his wife of belonging to different race, not considering the consequences or even taking into consideration that he is going send his wife away, despite the fact that she has devoted herself to him - this means that his wife is a meaningless object as if she was one of his possessions which could be compensated any time. Moreover, when Aubigny knows about his child, his manner toward Desiree changes dramatically; “when he spoke to her, it was with averted eyes, from which the old love-light seemed to have gone out. He absented himself from home; and when there, avoided her presence and that of her child, without excuse” (441). Desiree dares not ask him about this change because she fears his anger. He should have thought of her questioning him, later on, about the baby being colored or not; his blind irrationality precludes him from taking assimilating that if his wife hadn't been white, she would not have asked him about the child. If anyone examines his behavior, they would definitely conclude that it is not the appropriate behavior toward a woman, and above all, his a devoted wife. However, we are more surprised to see his nature precludes him from stopping his wife from abandoning the house. Despite what he did, she, with a kind-hearted nature, gives him