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The Relationship Between Identity and Power in Desiree s Baby In Kate Chopin s Desiree s Baby, Armand, Desiree, and their child hold a degree of power based on race, and family background. Armand for example, sustains great power over the slaves at his father s plantation. His family name and racial status allow him to hold such a position. Chopin writes, Young Aubigny s rule was a strict one, too, and under it his Negroes had forgotten how to be gay. Likewise, the people around Desiree enable her to have certain privileges until she is abandoned for a second time. Desiree s power subsides with the uncertainty of her family background.
Unfortunately, the innocent child s bright future comes to a halt with the discovery of his mixed race. At a given point in each of the character s lives, social identity allows them to have a certain degree of power that is subject to change. Desiree is abandoned as a child and nameless until the Valmonde family enters her life. A child of an uncertain future fell into the hands of a loving and caring family.
Desiree rose to higher status by becoming part of the Val monde family. Chopin states, For the girl grew to be beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere, the idol of Valmonde. Her beauty soon struck Armand, and he willingly walked into her life. After marriage, Desiree enjoys her life with Armand and the new child until the child s race was a concern.
The mixed ancestry of the child brought Desiree s family background into question. She was facing much hardship on the plantation now that her identity was equal to a slave. She was powerless after being blamed for the baby s racial status, and is abandon once again. If Desire decides to live on the plantation, she will end up like La Blanche.
In addition, Desiree will have to face many years knowing what she had before the baby was born. Likewise, Desiree s family wants her to come home. She has a place to go yet, she decides not to. The Val monde family s life would change a bit if Desiree were to come home. They will have many strange looks from the white race.
Friends will change as if they are totally different people. Desiree saves the Val monde family a great deal pain by deciding to go on her own. As a result, Desiree finds herself alone with no one to turn too. To our knowledge, she enters the swamps with a shredded dress and the baby. Desiree enters this world abandon equally leaving the same way. She ends her life in a moment instead of enduring many years of pain.
The family name Aubigny is one the oldest and proudest in Louisiana. Unlike his father, Armand uses his family name to his advantage by enforcing strict power throughout the plantation. Armand s powerful image is the outcome of having a dominant and respected family name. His strict rule soon dwindles with the birth of his child. Desiree states, He only laughed when Negrillo n pretended to have burnt his leg that he might rest from work. He is the proudest father in the parish until he notices his child s race.
Armand is a man of true power and did not imagine he is the cause of the seemingly impossible. Armand knew the child s color will destroy the family name. As a result, he made a mistake and used his power by putting all the blame on his wife s uncertain background. It is a mistake, because he found a letter that reveals his true identity.
His mother states in the letter, I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery. Armand is a man of power and will react by keeping this all a secret. What he did to Desiree and his child will affect him to a certain degree, but it will not affect his power on the plantation. After a while he will realize what he did to his family. He will regret his actions and appreciate what he had at one time. No problems will arise because of the letter being a secret, but he has to face a future of sadness and remorse.
Armand s identity will stay strong in the plantation and he will hold the same power as he did before. A plantation owner s son has great advantages if he is born in a time of slavery. Armand and Desiree s baby is one of the lucky. The child s family name places him on a higher lever than most white babies and enables him to have much power in the future.
Armand and Desiree are delighted with the birth of the new born. Armand s child has a lot to look forward to until skin color comes to question. Desiree s uncertainty is clarified when Armand answers her, the child is not white. Armand looks at the child in a totally different way. He does not claim the child as he did before the discovery. All dreams to a bright future are shattered with his new identity.
His new identity brings out the power to destroy his family. His race is the reason for the breakup of his mother and father. Unlike Armand, Desiree loves her child and will look past the child race. The child would be a servant to Armand instead of a son by staying in L Abri.
In his Mother s arms, a child who had no control of his pass in the same way is helpless to his future. The characters identities allow them to hold different powers throughout the story. Armand s identity change will not affect the outcome of the story, because of the need to prolong his power. He will maintain his rule as he did before the child was born. At a time of white man rule, the baby s race will hold the child back from following in his father s footsteps. The child is one of the reasons that Desiree s identity changes throughout the story.
After she is told to leave, Desiree s identity is shattered and that brings her into the swamp with the child. Chopin, Kate. Desiree s Baby. The Awakening and Selected Short Stories of Kate Chopin. Ed.
Barbara H. Solomon. New York: Signet, 1976. 172 - 78. Online. Kate Chopin.
Internet. 8 October 2000. Available web
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