"Desiree's Baby"

The cultural time period in which this story is set, previous to the Civil War, has a profound impact on it's plot. Before the Civil War, in which slavery was abolished, slavery was wide spread across the United States. This was especially true in the South. In the South, interracial relationships were not acceptable in the culture of the time. In "Desiree's baby," in the last paragraph, readers learn that it was not Desiree who was black, but it was Armand. In an old, hidden love letter from Armand's mother to his father, readers learn that Armand's mother was of the "slave race" and his father was white. Because of the culture of the time period, Armand's mother and father hid their relationship. They also hoped that they could arrange their lives so Armand would never find out his mother's race. Towards the end of the story, when Armand did find out about his mother, readers learn why he was acting so oddly towards Desiree and the baby; all his life he lived like someone of a white race, and he found out that he was no more "superior" than the slaves. He was the same as the slaves that he treated so poorly. Also, because of the time the story was set in, he lost his love for Desiree; he knew, as a person who was of equal status of slaves, he could not be married to her or be in the presence of the child who was bore from an interracial relationship.