Nida Yousaf
WRT-201
Professor Zorn
August 10, 2014

Impulsiveness and Extreme Emotions

In most circumstances and situations, impulsiveness and going to the extreme in your emotions leads to regret and more problems. In Kate Chopin’s “Désirée’s Baby”, Désirée’s husband Armand Aubigny is spontaneous and does not put much thought into his decisions. He also goes to the extreme in his feelings. This attitude leads to pain and suffering for himself and those close to him. This story highlights how making impulsive decisions, thoughtlessly following your feelings, and being too extreme in your emotions can create conflict in one’s life and pave the way for disappointment and sorrow.
Falling in love impulsively can either turn out extremely great or very bad; not taking the time to see if there is anything in common between two people, or if there is anything about the other that one should know about, can lead to surprises later on in the relationship. “The passion that awoke in him that day, when he saw her at the gate, swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles.” Armand’s love for Désirée was completely impulsive; he did not think about anything else besides how he felt, and later on, when he found out something about her heritage that he did not like, he felt he could not deal with it and asked his wife to leave.
Having an impulsive personality also creates problems with those who try to be practical in their decision-making. People who blindly follow their emotions, especially love, do not see left from right and are unable to seriously consider issues that might jeopardize the relationship later on. “Monsieur Valmondé grew practical and wanted things well considered: that is, the girl’s obscure origin. Armand looked into her eyes and did not care. He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?” Though Armand was told that Désirée’s history was unknown and that she did not even have a name at the time they met, he was so blinded by how he felt about her that he did not care, and it was her “obscure origin” that created complications later on in their marriage.
Next, when Armand begins to have an idea that Désirée may have black ancestry, he begins to shun her. He went to the extreme in this case; instead of talking to her as soon as he began to have doubts, he began to avoid her. “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.” This extreme anger at the origin of Désirée and her child, even though she did not know her unknown ancestry was the reason for his resentment, caused emotional hurt to Armand’s wife and physical pain to his slaves: “And the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slaves. Désirée was miserable enough to die.” According to the text, Désirée was very dependent upon her husband’s validation of her worth. “This was what made the gentle Désirée so happy, for she loved him desperately. When he frowned she trembled, but loved him. When he smiled, she asked no greater blessing of God.” She felt the way she did based on him, and so when he went to the extreme in his anger at her mysterious ancestry, she became sad.
If extreme and impulsive love can lead to problems, so can extreme and impulsive hatred. Armand begins to dislike his wife and his child because of their origin, though he claimed to love his wife very much. This tremendous