Desiree's Baby

2 Pages 510 Words

In the story “Desiree’s Baby” there are many underlying connotations, which make the analyzing of the story somewhat difficult. These connotations are what make the story interesting and enjoyable to read. One could argue that love and lust played a large roll in this story. Also it would be easy to say that Desiree was not loved but lusted after throughout the story.
It is very apparent to me that Desiree’s husband did not love her as much as should have. It would also be justifiable to say that his relationship with her was purely based on his love for her body and not her mind. The story tells us that when he fell in love with her, it was similar to a prairie fire or an avalanche. Both a prairie fire and an avalanche start from the smallest thing and grow into a fierce power. But both the prairie fire and the avalanche only last for a small amount of time. If his love for her is being compared to both of these, then it was not true love, for love truly cannot be measured.
The description of Armand Valmonde led me to think that he was a very stern man whose beliefs and morals overpowered his ability to think reasonably. I believe that the most important thing in his life was the purity of his family name. It seemed that he was raised to be someone of importance, raised to be the distinguished gentlemen or even raised to be royalty. Armand was a slave owner and was raised in a time when it was thought that black people were inferior to white people, so there is definitely a sense of racism in the story.
Racism played a role in the story but its role is mainly to apply irony to story in the end. If the reader was disgusted with Armand, the ironic racism adds a twist at the end of the story which is quite enjoyable.
Racism and love are two clashing tones in the story also because, if you have one you cannot have the other. This is another one of my points. If Armand truly loved Desiree, then it would not matter if...