Kate Chopin had a very unique style of writing that I really enjoyed reading. I liked her use of irony and despite the time in which she was writing she wasn't afraid to write what she did. in all three of the readings we read by her I was very interested in her endings. As we talked about in class it was one of her trademarks, and I found it clever.
In "Desiree's Baby" Chopin really put an emphasis on how much Armand loved the baby, and how he changed and loved Desiree so much more with the baby. Things started to get shaky though when others were acting kind of strange about the baby's looks and once Armand found out that the baby was of mixed race he really rejected it. This was that same baby that he had grown to love and which he had made, but now it was as if it were an alien that he couldn't bare to touch or look at. Naturally, him being a slave owner himself could not possibly have been the parent that contributed to this mixing of races. He was so proud that he immediately blamed Desiree. It's quite odd though because she even said herself that she was more white than him and pointed out all of her obvious traits that were very different from the race of which she was accused. Because she honestly couldn't prove it though she had no choice but to leave, it was her fault.
Then the ironic part comes in. After it's too late Armand finds a letter from his mother to his father that writes "Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery." First of all that is a huge shock to Armand and the reader. How could it be that Armand was actually the one of mixed race when he was clearly a wealthy white slaveholder himself? This letter leaves a lot of questions to the reader. For example, did he never meet his mother or if he did how didn't he notice? Also, it's strange how he became a master and rose to such a high position. It would seem that somewhere along the way someone must have known his background, and wouldn't have allowed it.
I also notice how the mother wrote the letter... "cursed with the brand of slavery." So, she couldn't just say his race, but even his mother who wasn't white thought of her race as a curse, and a brand. Obviously, life wasn't a picnic for slaves, but she just makes it sound so much worse. The word brand really strikes me too. She's not just of a different race but she's a type of person, she had a brand.
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You made a really interesting point that got me thinking. It is strange and very thought provoking that even Armand's own mother would not come out and say that she was partially of African American decent, but instead she referred to her heritage as "belonging to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery". This reminded me of another story I read in a different class, titled "Stones of the Village" by Alice Dunbar-Nelson. In this story a man struggles with keeping the secret of his origins in order to maintain his social status and to protect his wife and family from public humiliation. Armand's mother and this character are both similar in the sense that they're hiding where they came from, not necessarily because they're ashamed of themselves, but I think it's more because they realize they will be shunned if anybody finds out the truth, and people in that time felt it was more important to maintain their social status rather than being true to themselves.
I really like your point that Armand was a slave owner himself and yet after he found out about his somewhat tainted background, he thought a little bit differently. To be ashamed and embarrased of your own family and origins id deplorable. Yet it is Desiree, who was "of questionable origin" to begin who, for lack of a better word is of "pure" background. Yet she, and her child are accepted back into her family, unconditionally when Armand shuns her for a "sin" that is not even hers. It really makes you think about race and how it is thought of and where the line is drawn.
"Cursed with the brand of slavery,” I had not noticed this when I first read Chopin. But it leads me to believe that Armand was not his mother and father's child. I would venture to guess hat he knew "both" parents. Physically they were white. And because of his parents whiteness he knew that he could not be responsible for the black heritage of his child. I would assume that he was adopted or the child of his father and a slave or his mother and a slave. His mother's cursed with slavery reminds of something a superstitious person would say. I think that the mother was almost foreshadowing the day when his secret would be revealed. She new it would be a curse on his life and protected him from this sorrow. Unfortunately, the sorrow that she predicted for him would fall on his child and wife.
I also really enjoyed Chopin's ironic twists they gave her stories something extra. I thought it was really interesting your point about armand's mother calling her race the one branded with the curse of slavery, i hadn't really thought about it before but it really makes slavery seem as though it may never end. I'm sure that is how the slaves felt.
I like how you questioned whether or not Armand even met his mother. I mean he must not have if he didn't know that he was of mixed race. Could you imagine not knowing your entire life that you are of mixed race, especially during this time period? The ending was so shocking. I loved that Armand got put in his place after disowning his child and breaking up with Desiree.
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