I learned so many things about different authors and how the time that they were living in effected the way they wrote. I learned about what it mean to be an African American waiting on freedom. I learned about what it meant to be a woman during slavery, the 1900's and even later. I learned the hopes and dreams of so many Americans and immigrants new to America's land. I learned about how so many people see American as the land of opportunity and plenty. I also learned the vast disappointments that some of them felt when they got here. I also learned about the struggles of the brave people who fought in the Vietnam war during war and when they got home and had to go back to living their daily lives. This course not only taught me about Literature, but it also gave me a lesson in history. Also, at times it made be very thankful and grateful for what I have and the blessings that I have received.
Mamie Sellers
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Literary Analysis Research Paper
This is my best work because I have always loved Ernest Hemingway. His works always have such meaning and depth. I love stories that have a meaning and an understanding about how life works. He is one of my favorite authors.
Ernest Hemingway is one of the most well known writers that came through during the modern period. He used his life experiences and the involvement of the outside world’s issues and problems, to create stories that were relatable to his readers. His story, Hills Like White Elephants, not only focuses on the social issues of abortion, it also shows the events that were happening in his life during this time.
The story of, Hills Like White Elephants, is about a woman and a man who are deciding to have an abortion or not to have it. Ernest Hemingway took a chapter out of his own life to influence this story. He also took a page out of history when he decided to write on the issue of abortion in the 1920s. "Impending fatherhood and the responsibilities it entailed had a glooming effect on Hemingway, much as it does for the American in "Hills Like White Elephants" (O’Conner, pg. 1421)." In the story them man is trying to persuade her to have this abortion because it will interrupt their carefree traveling throughout the world. He tells her that is she has the abortion then their life could go back to normal. He says, "We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before. That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that has made us unhappy (Hemingway, pg. 1423)," Hemingway had lived a carefree existence, with traveling all over the world and all that changed when his wife became pregnant with their son John. Hemingway held a slight grudge because this interrupted his life and is blithe existence.
"Hemingway liked the idea of writing a story about abortion without actually mentioning it, and with "Hill Like White Elephants" he broached the controversial subject with unmatched subtlety (http://www.lostgeneration.com)". He never actually came out and told his readers that these two people were talking about having an abortion. Instead, he used hints such as, "It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig, the man said. It’s really not an operation at all." He also says," I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in (Hemingway, pg. 1423)." He uses these hints to uncover the fact that they are trying to uncover the fact that they are trying to decide if they should have it or not and the man is letting the woman know that it is a simple as letting the air out or the life out of the child.
Another example, of Hemingway using words to play on, and not actually coming out and saying it, is when the woman is talking about the hills looking like white elephants. She talks about the hills looking like white elephants, "because it is a costly and unwanted burden (http://en.wikipedia.org)." This is what they actually think a baby would be to their life. It would be a burden to their traveling because it they would not be able to go to all the places that they would have went to before. They most likely would not be able to do all the things that they would have done before they had the baby. They also thought of it as a financial burden because they obviously did not have full time jobs, because they were always traveling. This would probably mean that he would have to get a job somewhere to pay for having the baby. "Hemingway uses the plain language to disguise the topic but also to show the characters’ inability to cope with the issue. The American is afraid of commitment. Jig seeks his approval, but wishes for the stability of a child (http://en.wikipedia.org)."
Hemingway never wasted any words without them meaning something more. "Hemingway’s text is the result of a painstaking selection process, each word performing an assigned function in the narrative (http://enotes.com/hemingway). " An example of this would be when he writes, "There were labels on them from all the hotels where they have spent nights (Hemingway, Pg. 1425)." Hemingway is letting the reader know that these people have traveled a lot and that they love it enough to put labels on their bags as a reminder of how much fun they had. He put this in so that the reader could understand why the American man would think that actually having a baby would be a hindrance on the life that they have known and loved. Another example of this would be when the woman says, "Everything tastes like licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe (Hemingway pg. 1423). "This was to let the reader know that no matter what was coming out of her mouth, she wanted to have a baby and maybe the stability that came with it. She thought that they way everything was turning out, it were as bitter sweet as a tough piece of licorice. Almost, as if Hemingway was trying to portray that she wanted something sweet and pure like childhood candy, to only have it turn out to but tough licorice that really is not that sweet.
Hemingway was widely known for writing stories that showed the strength of the man, however in more than one of his stories he showed how the woman could also be strong. "Though he had a reputation for writing best about men in a man’s world of war or wilderness, Hemingway lived very much in a world of women. He was surrounded by women as the second child and first son in a family four sisters (O’Conner, pg. 1420)." "Hemingway saw between the suburban world of his strong-willed mother, Grace, and the escape from its complexities provided by the Michigan woods that his father loved (O’Conner, pg. 1421)." "Hill Like White Elephants", Hemingway portrays the woman in most part as being vulnerable and wanting nothing more than to make the American man happy. She is portrayed for the most part as not wanting to disrupt his carefree life with a baby. However, Hemingway does give a glimpse of a woman that knows what she will be sacrificing and that she is going to have to be the strong one. She knows that if she chose to have the baby it would destroy the life that he knows and loves so much. He shows a woman that only a strong and competent woman would do. She lets him know this by saying, "Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me (Hemingway, pg. 1424)." She is letting him know that she is strong enough to give up her happiness so that he could be happy. This was probably what Hemingway saw his mother do repeatedly. Therefore, he put this in to show that women can not only be weak in the situation, but also can be strong even when they are the ones loosing out on the situation. Hemingway’s mother, because the way women were portrayed during this time, probably sacrificed her own happiness and desirers out of life to let her husband still have a taste of adventure when he and their son would go camping and she would stay home with the other children.
Ernest Hemingway was an exceptional man, whose writings told about stories that his readers could relate to. "Hemingway is direct. But he is also quite subtle, and subtlety is not a trait that we ascribe to the American way. In the end, Hemingway is an international artist, a man who never relinquished his American identity but who entered new territories too broad and too deep to fit within the domains of any national culture (http://www.enotes.com/hemingway). "
Bibliography
"Hemingway: An Introduction." eNotes: Ernest Hemingway.
Ed. Penny Satories, Seattle: enotes.com LLC, 2003.
14 November 2006. http://www.enotes.com/hemingway-masters/473967.
Lauter, Paul Ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 5th Vols. Boston: MA. 2006. 1422-1425.
O’Conner, Margaret Anne. "Ernest Hemingway 1899-1961." The Heath Anthology of American Literature Volume D. Ed. Paul Lauter. Houghton Mifflin: Boston, MA. 2006. 1420-1421.
Ernest Hemingway is one of the most well known writers that came through during the modern period. He used his life experiences and the involvement of the outside world’s issues and problems, to create stories that were relatable to his readers. His story, Hills Like White Elephants, not only focuses on the social issues of abortion, it also shows the events that were happening in his life during this time.
The story of, Hills Like White Elephants, is about a woman and a man who are deciding to have an abortion or not to have it. Ernest Hemingway took a chapter out of his own life to influence this story. He also took a page out of history when he decided to write on the issue of abortion in the 1920s. "Impending fatherhood and the responsibilities it entailed had a glooming effect on Hemingway, much as it does for the American in "Hills Like White Elephants" (O’Conner, pg. 1421)." In the story them man is trying to persuade her to have this abortion because it will interrupt their carefree traveling throughout the world. He tells her that is she has the abortion then their life could go back to normal. He says, "We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before. That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that has made us unhappy (Hemingway, pg. 1423)," Hemingway had lived a carefree existence, with traveling all over the world and all that changed when his wife became pregnant with their son John. Hemingway held a slight grudge because this interrupted his life and is blithe existence.
"Hemingway liked the idea of writing a story about abortion without actually mentioning it, and with "Hill Like White Elephants" he broached the controversial subject with unmatched subtlety (http://www.lostgeneration.com)". He never actually came out and told his readers that these two people were talking about having an abortion. Instead, he used hints such as, "It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig, the man said. It’s really not an operation at all." He also says," I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in (Hemingway, pg. 1423)." He uses these hints to uncover the fact that they are trying to uncover the fact that they are trying to decide if they should have it or not and the man is letting the woman know that it is a simple as letting the air out or the life out of the child.
Another example, of Hemingway using words to play on, and not actually coming out and saying it, is when the woman is talking about the hills looking like white elephants. She talks about the hills looking like white elephants, "because it is a costly and unwanted burden (http://en.wikipedia.org)." This is what they actually think a baby would be to their life. It would be a burden to their traveling because it they would not be able to go to all the places that they would have went to before. They most likely would not be able to do all the things that they would have done before they had the baby. They also thought of it as a financial burden because they obviously did not have full time jobs, because they were always traveling. This would probably mean that he would have to get a job somewhere to pay for having the baby. "Hemingway uses the plain language to disguise the topic but also to show the characters’ inability to cope with the issue. The American is afraid of commitment. Jig seeks his approval, but wishes for the stability of a child (http://en.wikipedia.org)."
Hemingway never wasted any words without them meaning something more. "Hemingway’s text is the result of a painstaking selection process, each word performing an assigned function in the narrative (http://enotes.com/hemingway). " An example of this would be when he writes, "There were labels on them from all the hotels where they have spent nights (Hemingway, Pg. 1425)." Hemingway is letting the reader know that these people have traveled a lot and that they love it enough to put labels on their bags as a reminder of how much fun they had. He put this in so that the reader could understand why the American man would think that actually having a baby would be a hindrance on the life that they have known and loved. Another example of this would be when the woman says, "Everything tastes like licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe (Hemingway pg. 1423). "This was to let the reader know that no matter what was coming out of her mouth, she wanted to have a baby and maybe the stability that came with it. She thought that they way everything was turning out, it were as bitter sweet as a tough piece of licorice. Almost, as if Hemingway was trying to portray that she wanted something sweet and pure like childhood candy, to only have it turn out to but tough licorice that really is not that sweet.
Hemingway was widely known for writing stories that showed the strength of the man, however in more than one of his stories he showed how the woman could also be strong. "Though he had a reputation for writing best about men in a man’s world of war or wilderness, Hemingway lived very much in a world of women. He was surrounded by women as the second child and first son in a family four sisters (O’Conner, pg. 1420)." "Hemingway saw between the suburban world of his strong-willed mother, Grace, and the escape from its complexities provided by the Michigan woods that his father loved (O’Conner, pg. 1421)." "Hill Like White Elephants", Hemingway portrays the woman in most part as being vulnerable and wanting nothing more than to make the American man happy. She is portrayed for the most part as not wanting to disrupt his carefree life with a baby. However, Hemingway does give a glimpse of a woman that knows what she will be sacrificing and that she is going to have to be the strong one. She knows that if she chose to have the baby it would destroy the life that he knows and loves so much. He shows a woman that only a strong and competent woman would do. She lets him know this by saying, "Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me (Hemingway, pg. 1424)." She is letting him know that she is strong enough to give up her happiness so that he could be happy. This was probably what Hemingway saw his mother do repeatedly. Therefore, he put this in to show that women can not only be weak in the situation, but also can be strong even when they are the ones loosing out on the situation. Hemingway’s mother, because the way women were portrayed during this time, probably sacrificed her own happiness and desirers out of life to let her husband still have a taste of adventure when he and their son would go camping and she would stay home with the other children.
Ernest Hemingway was an exceptional man, whose writings told about stories that his readers could relate to. "Hemingway is direct. But he is also quite subtle, and subtlety is not a trait that we ascribe to the American way. In the end, Hemingway is an international artist, a man who never relinquished his American identity but who entered new territories too broad and too deep to fit within the domains of any national culture (http://www.enotes.com/hemingway). "
Bibliography
"Hemingway: An Introduction." eNotes: Ernest Hemingway.
Ed. Penny Satories, Seattle: enotes.com LLC, 2003.
14 November 2006. http://www.enotes.com/hemingway-masters/473967.
Lauter, Paul Ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 5th Vols. Boston: MA. 2006. 1422-1425.
O’Conner, Margaret Anne. "Ernest Hemingway 1899-1961." The Heath Anthology of American Literature Volume D. Ed. Paul Lauter. Houghton Mifflin: Boston, MA. 2006. 1420-1421.
Literary Analysis Essay 2
This piece was my greatest challenge because I really wanted to understand a situation that even it was happening know I don't think that I could truly understand completly. I wanted to understand how much despair someone could fill in not knowing if they were ever going to be free and knowing that it could possibly be at the end of their fingers and not knowing if they were ever going to reach it while they were alive.
In the poem, The Freedom Train, Langston Hughes, uses the literary technique of comparison as a way to describe the struggles and the desires that slaves went through before freedom. He uses it to describe the apprehension that they had at not truly knowing what would happen when they actually achieved the freedom that they had all been praying and dreaming of.
Our first example, which we see of this, is in the first stanza. Hughes talks about all the places he is hearing or seeing something about the possibility of freedom of the slaves. Hughes wrote, "I read in the papers about the Freedom Train/ I heard on the radio about the Freedom train/ I see folks talkin’ about the Freedom train/ Lord, I been a-waitin’ for the Freedom Train (Hughes, pg. 1527). All the slaves are hearing about this thing called freedom and they are not sure exactly what it is. So, Langston compares it to a train, something that is going to come fast and unexpected.
Another example would be when Hughes starts pondering what it is actually going to mean, when and if, they do achieve freedom. He said, " Down south in Dixie only train I see’s/ Got a Jim Crow car set aside for me. /I hope there ain’t no Jim Crow on the Freedom Train/ No Back door entrance to the Freedom Train/ No signs FOR COLORED on the Freedom Train/ No WHITE FOLKS ONLY on the Freedom Train (Hughes, pg. 1527). With this example, Hughes is stating that the only life, that they have ever known, has been one with no freedom. A life with a white section only and the blacks were allowed only to sit in the back of the train or in a special section. In his idea of what true freedom would be, there would be no special sections and anyone could sit anywhere they wanted to. Also, he is comparing the door entrance of the train, to the back entrance that the colored folks had to go through. Hughes wonders that with this freedom that is coming, will the slaves still have a special back door entrance or will everyone be able to use all the doors.
Hughes uses another comparison, of the train and freedom from slavery, when he questions if when freedom comes will he were as equal in society as the white man. He asks, "Who’s the engineer on the Freedom Train? / Can a Coal black man drive the Freedom train? / Or am I still a porter on the Freedom Train? / When it stops in Mississippi will it be made plain/ everybody’s got a right to board to Freedom train? (Hughes Pg. 1527). He want to know that when this freedom comes will he be able to do all the things that he never got to do. Such as, voting for his and other blacks rights, will everyone be equal to each other and being able to be a leader in society instead of the helper all the time.
One final example, of the comparison to the train and freedom, is when Hughes takes about how his grandmother’s grandson, Jimmy, died in Anzio. Again, Hughes starts questioning weather the heaven freedom train will be the actual true freedom to a slave or is it still a white mans train. Hughes asks the questions, "Will his Freedom Train come zoomin down the track/ Gleamin’ in the sunlight for white and black? / Not stopping at no stations marked COLORED nor WHITE, / Just stopping in the fields ……… For the Freedom Train will be yours and mine! (Hughes pg. 1528). Hughes is questioning the fact that when you die, and you’re a free slave or not, does heaven make a difference. He continues to ponder if it will make a difference if you are black and white. He wants to if heaven truly means freedom for everyone, with no special meetings and there are not only white politicians. In heaven, he asks, will there be a line for colored folks or will everyone be able to stand in every line.
Langston Hughes was a wonderful writer. He used many literary techniques, throughout all of his writings, to portray the deeper messages that he wanted to get across to his readers. He wrote about the struggle of the slaves and allowed people to see that even though they were not allowed to have a lot they had their dreams and no one could take that away.
Works Citied
Hughes, Langston. "The Freedom Train". Pgs. 1527-1528.
Lauter, Paul Ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature Volume D. 5th Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2006.
In the poem, The Freedom Train, Langston Hughes, uses the literary technique of comparison as a way to describe the struggles and the desires that slaves went through before freedom. He uses it to describe the apprehension that they had at not truly knowing what would happen when they actually achieved the freedom that they had all been praying and dreaming of.
Our first example, which we see of this, is in the first stanza. Hughes talks about all the places he is hearing or seeing something about the possibility of freedom of the slaves. Hughes wrote, "I read in the papers about the Freedom Train/ I heard on the radio about the Freedom train/ I see folks talkin’ about the Freedom train/ Lord, I been a-waitin’ for the Freedom Train (Hughes, pg. 1527). All the slaves are hearing about this thing called freedom and they are not sure exactly what it is. So, Langston compares it to a train, something that is going to come fast and unexpected.
Another example would be when Hughes starts pondering what it is actually going to mean, when and if, they do achieve freedom. He said, " Down south in Dixie only train I see’s/ Got a Jim Crow car set aside for me. /I hope there ain’t no Jim Crow on the Freedom Train/ No Back door entrance to the Freedom Train/ No signs FOR COLORED on the Freedom Train/ No WHITE FOLKS ONLY on the Freedom Train (Hughes, pg. 1527). With this example, Hughes is stating that the only life, that they have ever known, has been one with no freedom. A life with a white section only and the blacks were allowed only to sit in the back of the train or in a special section. In his idea of what true freedom would be, there would be no special sections and anyone could sit anywhere they wanted to. Also, he is comparing the door entrance of the train, to the back entrance that the colored folks had to go through. Hughes wonders that with this freedom that is coming, will the slaves still have a special back door entrance or will everyone be able to use all the doors.
Hughes uses another comparison, of the train and freedom from slavery, when he questions if when freedom comes will he were as equal in society as the white man. He asks, "Who’s the engineer on the Freedom Train? / Can a Coal black man drive the Freedom train? / Or am I still a porter on the Freedom Train? / When it stops in Mississippi will it be made plain/ everybody’s got a right to board to Freedom train? (Hughes Pg. 1527). He want to know that when this freedom comes will he be able to do all the things that he never got to do. Such as, voting for his and other blacks rights, will everyone be equal to each other and being able to be a leader in society instead of the helper all the time.
One final example, of the comparison to the train and freedom, is when Hughes takes about how his grandmother’s grandson, Jimmy, died in Anzio. Again, Hughes starts questioning weather the heaven freedom train will be the actual true freedom to a slave or is it still a white mans train. Hughes asks the questions, "Will his Freedom Train come zoomin down the track/ Gleamin’ in the sunlight for white and black? / Not stopping at no stations marked COLORED nor WHITE, / Just stopping in the fields ……… For the Freedom Train will be yours and mine! (Hughes pg. 1528). Hughes is questioning the fact that when you die, and you’re a free slave or not, does heaven make a difference. He continues to ponder if it will make a difference if you are black and white. He wants to if heaven truly means freedom for everyone, with no special meetings and there are not only white politicians. In heaven, he asks, will there be a line for colored folks or will everyone be able to stand in every line.
Langston Hughes was a wonderful writer. He used many literary techniques, throughout all of his writings, to portray the deeper messages that he wanted to get across to his readers. He wrote about the struggle of the slaves and allowed people to see that even though they were not allowed to have a lot they had their dreams and no one could take that away.
Works Citied
Hughes, Langston. "The Freedom Train". Pgs. 1527-1528.
Lauter, Paul Ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature Volume D. 5th Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2006.
Literary Analysis Essay 1
If I could do this piece over again, I would proably try to analyze everything a little more indepth. I really liked the story and thought that it was a piece that was understanding with something that people still have to deal with in today's society. I think that maybe I could have took some help from our society today to maybe have wrote a better paper. A paper that would have had a better flow to it.
Mamie Sellers
Literary Analysis 1
December 8, 2006
In "Desiree’s Baby," Kate Chopin uses irony throughout the whole story. She used irony without the reader actually knowing what was going on, so that she could build up to the end and then you could understand the true irony in the situation. It’s in the end when we learn the fact that with his deep hatred of the slaves, that he too is part "of the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery", along with Desiree and their child (Chopin, 363).
Our first example comes through the eyes of Desiree’s mother when she is coming for visit. "When she reached L’Abri she shuddered at the first sight of it, as she always did. It was a sad looking place — 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" (Chopin, 360). The irony in this situation is he himself, being more of the Negro race than his own father, treated the slaves much worse than his father had. His father was a man who was more easy going and as we know, had a love affair with a woman of the Negro race. Armand himself had a great hatred for the salves and was extremely cruel to them. The slave’s that were there under Armand’s rule were also there under his father’s rule. They all probably knew that his father had the love affair with one of the slaves and they could look at Armand and tell that he had the Negro race in him. It was as if whenever he looked at them it would stir some deep hatred in him that he probably could not understand. This feeling that he had made him despise them even more.
Another example is when Desiree’s mother comes to visit and she is describing what the situation has been like, in the house and on the plantation, since the baby was born. Desiree says,’Armand is the proudest father in the parish, I believe chiefly because it is a boy who can carry on his name.—And mama, "She adding drawing Madame Valmonde’s head down to her, and speaking in a whisper, he hasn’t punished one of them since baby is born"(Chopin, 360). When Armand’s baby boy was born it softened his heart and made him not have so much hatred for the race he so despised. It was almost as if his conscious were telling him that if you love this baby so much and he is of the same race, then it would be okay to not hate them so much.
The next example we find is when the baby is three months old and Desiree starts noticing a change in Armand’s behavior. The once soft hearted man, who had always held the deepest love for her, started avoiding her and the child. This was after she noticed "an air of mystery among the blacks; unexpected visits from far off neighbors who could hardly account for their coming"(Chopin, 361). It is also then that she notices that, "The very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly have taken over him in his dealings with the slaves"(Chopin 361). This is when Armand comes to the realization, because the visitors and even his own slaves start talking about the child having Negro blood in him. When Armand actually has to face the fact tat he has a baby that has Negro blood, it is then that he decides that it is all Desiree’s fault. He decides that she is the one who brought the same upon him. At one point, she is looking at the baby and cries,’Tell me what it means!, and he answers, It means that you are not white’ (Chopin, 361). This destroys Desiree, who immediately confirms this with her mother. When Desiree goes to ask Armand if he wants them to leave, she says yes and never wavers or even shows a glimpse of remorse. Armand sends his wife, who is the love of his life, and his only son, who brought him so much joy to his life, because everyone starts talking about the baby having Negro blood in him. He knows that is could not possibly be him, so it has to be Desiree who is of the Negro race.
When Armand starts burning all the reminders of the disgrace that was brought upon him, it is then that he finds out the truth. Armand finds a letter that was mixed in with Desiree’s that was written a long time before. It was a letter that to his father from his mother. In this letter, "She was thanking God for the blessing of her husband’s love:– But, above all "she wrote, "night and day, I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery" (Chopin, pg. 363). It is then that he can no longer deny that he is part of the race that he has hated so much and that he sent his wife and son away for being not 100% white when he himself is not. It is now when his fears are confirmed that he realizes that he sent away the love in his life and he has nothing left.
"Desiree’s Baby" was about a man who could never truly grasp what and who he truly was. I think he was somewhat different but he could never fully grasp what it actually meant. In the end he lost his wife and his family to finally understand what he truly was and is , a member of the Negro race. However, the irony of the whole situation he finds this out after he has sent away the love of his life and his own flesh and blood. He sent them away because they had Negro blood in them when all along he was the same as they were.
Works Cited
"Desirees Baby". Chopin, Kate. Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. 5th Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.2006. Pg. 357-363.
Mamie Sellers
Literary Analysis 1
December 8, 2006
In "Desiree’s Baby," Kate Chopin uses irony throughout the whole story. She used irony without the reader actually knowing what was going on, so that she could build up to the end and then you could understand the true irony in the situation. It’s in the end when we learn the fact that with his deep hatred of the slaves, that he too is part "of the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery", along with Desiree and their child (Chopin, 363).
Our first example comes through the eyes of Desiree’s mother when she is coming for visit. "When she reached L’Abri she shuddered at the first sight of it, as she always did. It was a sad looking place — 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" (Chopin, 360). The irony in this situation is he himself, being more of the Negro race than his own father, treated the slaves much worse than his father had. His father was a man who was more easy going and as we know, had a love affair with a woman of the Negro race. Armand himself had a great hatred for the salves and was extremely cruel to them. The slave’s that were there under Armand’s rule were also there under his father’s rule. They all probably knew that his father had the love affair with one of the slaves and they could look at Armand and tell that he had the Negro race in him. It was as if whenever he looked at them it would stir some deep hatred in him that he probably could not understand. This feeling that he had made him despise them even more.
Another example is when Desiree’s mother comes to visit and she is describing what the situation has been like, in the house and on the plantation, since the baby was born. Desiree says,’Armand is the proudest father in the parish, I believe chiefly because it is a boy who can carry on his name.—And mama, "She adding drawing Madame Valmonde’s head down to her, and speaking in a whisper, he hasn’t punished one of them since baby is born"(Chopin, 360). When Armand’s baby boy was born it softened his heart and made him not have so much hatred for the race he so despised. It was almost as if his conscious were telling him that if you love this baby so much and he is of the same race, then it would be okay to not hate them so much.
The next example we find is when the baby is three months old and Desiree starts noticing a change in Armand’s behavior. The once soft hearted man, who had always held the deepest love for her, started avoiding her and the child. This was after she noticed "an air of mystery among the blacks; unexpected visits from far off neighbors who could hardly account for their coming"(Chopin, 361). It is also then that she notices that, "The very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly have taken over him in his dealings with the slaves"(Chopin 361). This is when Armand comes to the realization, because the visitors and even his own slaves start talking about the child having Negro blood in him. When Armand actually has to face the fact tat he has a baby that has Negro blood, it is then that he decides that it is all Desiree’s fault. He decides that she is the one who brought the same upon him. At one point, she is looking at the baby and cries,’Tell me what it means!, and he answers, It means that you are not white’ (Chopin, 361). This destroys Desiree, who immediately confirms this with her mother. When Desiree goes to ask Armand if he wants them to leave, she says yes and never wavers or even shows a glimpse of remorse. Armand sends his wife, who is the love of his life, and his only son, who brought him so much joy to his life, because everyone starts talking about the baby having Negro blood in him. He knows that is could not possibly be him, so it has to be Desiree who is of the Negro race.
When Armand starts burning all the reminders of the disgrace that was brought upon him, it is then that he finds out the truth. Armand finds a letter that was mixed in with Desiree’s that was written a long time before. It was a letter that to his father from his mother. In this letter, "She was thanking God for the blessing of her husband’s love:– But, above all "she wrote, "night and day, I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery" (Chopin, pg. 363). It is then that he can no longer deny that he is part of the race that he has hated so much and that he sent his wife and son away for being not 100% white when he himself is not. It is now when his fears are confirmed that he realizes that he sent away the love in his life and he has nothing left.
"Desiree’s Baby" was about a man who could never truly grasp what and who he truly was. I think he was somewhat different but he could never fully grasp what it actually meant. In the end he lost his wife and his family to finally understand what he truly was and is , a member of the Negro race. However, the irony of the whole situation he finds this out after he has sent away the love of his life and his own flesh and blood. He sent them away because they had Negro blood in them when all along he was the same as they were.
Works Cited
"Desirees Baby". Chopin, Kate. Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. 5th Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.2006. Pg. 357-363.
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