Student Essay on Symbolism in "Desiree's Baby"

Symbolism in "Desiree's Baby"

Summary:   Throughout her short story "Desiree's Baby," Kate Chopin uses symbolism to convey her themes of racial prejudice, unequal gender roles, and social hierarchy in a patriarchal society.

"Desiree's Baby" is Kate Chopin's most well-known short story and most anthologized piece of work. The story takes place in southern Louisiana and her writing reflects her Creole-French descent. Chopin begins the story with a descriptive quote, "when she reached L'Abri she shuddered at the first sight of it, as she always did. It was a sad looking place...Big solemn oaks grew close to it and their thick leaved, far-reaching branches shadowed it like a pall" (185). The preceding quote gives the reader an eerie feeling and foreshadows an unpleasant ending to the story. Throughout the "Desiree's Baby," Kate Chopin uses symbolism to convey her themes of racial prejudice, unequal gender roles, and social hierarchy in a patriarchal society.

During Chopin's lifetime, African Americans were considered inferior to whites and often worked as slaves for the wealthy, white families in the south. Early in the story the narrator describes the scenery of the plantation, L'Abri, and says, "young Aubigny's rule was a strict one, too, and under it his negroes had forgotten how to be gay, as they had been during the old master's easy-going and indulgent lifetime" (185). This shows Aubigny's egotism and apathy toward his slaves. His treatment of the slaves as possessions rather than human beings reveals that Aubigny has no consideration when dealing with blacks. Chopin allows the audience to see Aubigny's sudden change in character once he falls in love with Desiree as a foreshadowing mechanism. Aubigny's fickleness is shown later in the story after he notices the uncanny resemblance between his child and the slave boys. Aubigny refuses to believe that he comes from African descent and instead forces his wife and child to leave the plantation. Ironically, once they leave Chopin reveals that Aubigny's true heritage which illustrates the illogicality of racial discrimination and how hypocritical humans can be.

Chopin was a southern feminist writer who often related her stories back to the issue of discrimination across genders. She uses symbolism to analyze the gender roles of inequality between men and women in society. In the very beginning Desiree was left on a stone pillar at the Valmonde estate; it is here that Armand Aubigny sees her and falls instantly in love with her. The stone pillar is a phallic symbol of firm, forced male dominance in a patriarchal society. Throughout the story Desiree is submissive to her husband and obeys everything he says even when Aubigny sends her and the child away. Desiree left wearing a thin white garment and slippers and as she walked the sun beamed down giving off a radiant, golden gleam from her long, brown hair. Chopin uses Desiree's white clothing to symbolize the feminine element being introduced into society and the sun's shining rays seem to represent the shifting of power roles among genders. Chopin demonstrates the rising power of women in society and the establishment of equality among genders.

"She did not take the broad, beaten road which led to the far-off plantation at Valmonde. She walked across a deserted field, where the stubble bruised her tender feet, so delicately shod, and tore her thin gown to shreds. She disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again" (188).

Chopin uses the portrayal of the diverging roads as a symbol for the different paths taken. The beaten path represents the male opinionated way of life that society is prone to following; therefore, the deserted field signifies the progression of feminism. Kate Chopin was an advocate feminist whose writing contained underlying messages that inflicted her readers with emerging ideas of feminism and equal rights across genders well ahead of her time.

In "Desiree's Baby", Kate Chopin creates a distinction between social classes by using wealthy, white male characters as well as African American slaves in the same story. On a superficial level, Chopin shows how pigments of skin color define social castes and can determine the value of one's identity. Although she doesn't focus on social problems within slavery or the segregated social system, there is evidence throughout the story that the line between races is crossed. Aubigny creates a social caste system between races on his plantation; however, ironically he is the one whose blood is mixed with African descent which causes a snag in the system and uniting the races. At the end of the story Aubigny builds a bonfire in which his slaves burn all of his wife and child's possessions, leaving no trace of them which symbolizes his pride and cold-hearted selfishness. Aubigny's stubbornness keeps him from admitting his horrible mistake even after his wife and child are cast away. In Kate Chopin's short story "Desiree's Baby", Armand's pride and ignorance completely destroys his relationship between Desiree and their baby.

Kate Chopin raises several important issues in her short story, including the nature of racism, social castes, and the fulfillment of a woman's identity. Chopin portrays Desiree as a woman whose self-worth is controlled by her husband. Kate Chopin is now recognized for her initial examination of sexuality, individual freedom, and exploration of the consequences of actions. Chopin successfully shows the themes of racism, gender prejudice, and social castes by using elements such as symbolism in the short story "Desiree's Baby." Chopin incorporates irony into her story in order to magnify important issues such as discrimination and the rise of feminism in a patriarchal society.

Work Cited

Chopin, Kate. "Desiree's Baby." Literature and the Writing Process. 7th ed. Eds. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2002.

184-188.