Desiree's Baby

The short story “Desiree’s Baby” is a love story about race and slavery. The story starts off with Desiree’s mother Madame Valmonde telling the story. It then ends with the thoughts of Desiree and her husband Armand. Desiree is the protagonist in this story because she’s the mother of the black baby. Armand is the Antagonist because he accuses Desiree of being black and of ruining his name in Louisiana.

Armand and Desiree are married with a baby boy. It seemed like it was love at first sight. Armand was in love with his wife and his baby. Desiree thought that he was so happy because it was a boy but Armand denied that. In the beginning they had a good marriage until the baby got older. When the baby got to be 3months old Armand began to change. He began to ignore her and treat her differently. One day Armand comes in the house and Desiree asks him what’s wrong with the baby and why he looks like that. Armand ignores her few times but then finally answers and says “he is not white …you are not white”. Desiree denies this accusation but her husband was not trying to hear her. Desiree quickly writes to her mother asking her if she is black but her mother replies and tells her to come home. Desiree goes to Armand and shows him the letter from her mother telling her to come home. Armand tells her to go so she leaves. Armand is upset so he burns everything that was in the house of her.

While burning things he finds a letter from his mother saying that she is grateful for the life that God has blessed her with and hopes that Armand will never find out that he is cursed with a mother who was born of slavery. So in the end Desiree was not the one who was black it was Armand who was. He made such a big deal about it and blew things way out of proportion. Burning her things was very unnecessary but I think he did it because he was hurt. Even though Armand did all of this Desiree still loved him. So in conclusion Armand wan left alone with no wife and no baby.