Desiree's Baby

Armand Aubigny seemed to be the typical male during the times when Kate Chopin wrote, “Desiree’s Baby”. Armand was a white man of affluence and wealth as well as a prideful and demanding man. He liked to be in control of the things around him (such as exerting his control over his Negro slaves and his household), so one day when he looked at his baby and realized that there was something off about this beautiful, white, and pure child, he was expectedly perturbed. As the child grows older, Armand realizes that this child that he has cherished and adored is not a purebred white baby. This notion disgusts and hurts him. His pride does not allow him to accept this love child of him and wife instead he turns away from her. “He thought that Almighty God had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him; and he felt somehow, he was paying Him back in kind when he stabbed thus into his wife’s soul.” (362). Being a man who likes to be in the forefront and have a considerable amount of influence in all situations, Armand is despaired by this “unjust act” of God, so he decides to repay this injustice done to him, but punishing his wife. He is unwilling to hear any sort of argument posed by his wife (admittance or refute), he feels as if he must come out on top at the end of this as if he is equivalent to God and can stand toe to toe with him in affecting people’s lives.
Not for one second does Armand stop to think that maybe this trace of blackness in their child could have somehow come from him. He immediately assumes it was his wife and does not waver in this proclamation. Being a man during those times in which most men were chauvinistic and domineering, he had to protect his reputation and good name. He didn’t want people to know that his wife was breeding black babies and he found it acceptable and would continue to love her. “Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name.” (362). Armand was a prideful man, who had a reputation to protect, thus it was only plausible that he expel his wife from their household and from his life. It was such a frightening thought as to what the country people might say if they found out that Desiree had produced a mulatto baby: maybe she was part black or maybe she cheated on her husband with a black man. He would be mocked and looked down upon if this ever occurred. The possibilities were horrible and Armand had to protect his good name.
Also within this piece I found the notion of blackness being evil presented through the baby. When it was discovered that the baby had vestiges of black into it, suddenly the house, Armand’s mood, their marriage, as well as the tone of the book, became dark and gloomy. Happiness was gone with the birthing of this blackness. Even though Armand loved this baby initially as soon as he saw blackness presenting itself in his child, his demeanor toward the child quickly changed. Armand allowed this notion of blackness being evil to ruin his marriage as well as his life (because possibly he would have not found out about his own black heritage if he did not start that fire to burn all lasting memories of Desiree and their child, until later on in his life). It was such a sin back then to be the parents of a mulatto child. Those parents were shunned and seen as evil and impure themselves, because blacks were still seen and treated as dirt, so to procreate with one of them was an unpleasing thought and one that people believed would turn the whole world upside down if it was warmly accepted.