Origin/Race

In “Desiree’s Baby,” Kate Chopin distorts origin and racial identity. In the beginning of this short story, an unnamed child is taken in as an orphan by Madame and Monsieur Valmondé. They didn’t know where she came from.  Though there was much speculation about her origins, Madame Valmondé denied this speculation and took the unnamed child (later known as Desiree) in as her own. Desiree’s newfound mother changes her in multiple ways; first, by raising her, then by giving her a new name.  Madame Valmondé thus “transforms a child of questionable origin to an accepted white woman” (Brown 2). Her acceptance is further solidified when she marries Armand who not only “desires” Desiree but also doesn’t care that her origins are unknown. Though he was fully aware of the fact, he decides to take the risk anyway and give Desiree his last name. Both her mother and her new husband have given Desiree a new name and “placed their individual desires into this originally empty vessel” (Qtd. In Brown, 3). This is something to be aware of since Desiree has all these assumptions put on her by people that don’t know who she really is. One could say that she is a product of her environment, in the sense that her environment essentially creates her since she has no known origins. Along with this idea is the notion of race and how it plays a vital role in this short story.