In her short story, "Desiree's Baby," Kate Chopin uses irony and symbolism to enhance the story, and convey a surprise ending.
In the beginning of the story, Madam Valmonde is on her way to visit her daughter and new born grandson, when she flashes back to the day her husband, Monsieur, found little Desiree "lying asleep in the shadow of the big stone pillar." The unknown origin of Desiree is a major question throughout her life and throughout the story. Eighteen years after her initial discovery, Desiree is again under the same pillar when Armand Aubigny sees her and instantly falls in love "as if struck by a pistol shot," (182). In both times using the stone pillar as the place where Desiree is found, the reader becomes aware that this place is a continuing factor in Desiree's true identity.
L"Abri, was a dark and solemn place, where, since the rule of Armand had been so strict, the slaves were no longer gay as the once were during the elder Aubigny's rule (183). Desiree is described as wearing "soft white muslins and laces," creating a conflicting image of life at L"Abri (183). While the outside of the house is dark, the inside is almost lit up from Desiree's presence, showing the impact she has had on life at L"Abri. Desiree says that she is so happy that it "frightens" her, another indication that things at L"Abri may not be all well (183).
After three months, it becomes evident that the baby is not white, but black, which Armand blames Desiree for because of her suspicious origins. When Desiree leaves the plantation to return to her mother's, at Armand's request, she did not take a well worn path, symbolizing her struggle. Instead, she cut through a field where the "stubble bruised her tender feet . . . and tore her thin gown to shreds." The torn gown represents her shattered home and marriage, the complete opposite of what the gown stood for just a page earlier. .