"Desiree's Baby," by Kate Chopin, is a story of a young woman is victim of both love, and rejection. The story beginning with an abandoned, nameless young lady, whose future was uncertain until the Valmonde family rescued her. Later on the story, Desiree marries Armand, a wealthy slave owner. The tension rises when their child was born and his skin tone seems to be darker. Armand blames the color of the child on Desiree. Armand rejects her and the child for fear that this would harm his family name. The most obvious and crystal clear theme of the story is racism. The story also centers on the presumed inferiority of women and dependence on a husband. The 19th century was an extremely difficult time for women and blacks, socially and economically speaking, because of the domination of white men. .
The short story is narrated by an omniscient third-person point of view. It's clear that the story it's not third person limited because the narrator gives more than one character thought. Madame Valmonde's, thoughts are shown when "it made her laugh to think of Desiree with a baby. "(279) Three months later of the child birth "Desiree awoke one day to the conviction that there was something in the air menacing her peace. "(280) This dramatic change in the atmosphere made Desiree realize that her child is not completely white. Armand assumes that it is Desiree who has African American blood in her veins because of her unknown heritage. Armand changes in his attitude from an adoring husband and father to a hateful racist. Armand "thought Almighty God had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him; and felt, somehow, that he was paying Him back in kind when he stabbed thus into his wife's soul. Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name. "(282) Unfortunately, Desiree's love for her husband leads her to realize that without Armand she was absolutely helpless and useless.
