Chopin

Armand

Calvin

‘Armand stood appalled at the letter – daring to neither to believe his eyes or the ink upon the paper. Silence seemed to crackle louder than the bonfire in Armand’s mind lasting what seemed to be an eternity. Breaking the the period of silence, was the ashes of Desiree’s affection in the form of letters drifting up and across his sight – the endearment exchanged during their espousal which he tore apart. “What have I done,” would be the one of the questions ringing relentingly in Armand’s mind, “May I have a chance to fix this regret?” Desperate to not lose hope, he lunged past the tall licks of flames to grasp at the remnants of the still burning letters – searing the skin on his hands black and blistering. Moments later, while the pain of his hands seemed nonexistent next to the pain in his heart, he left the L’Abri in desperate hopes to see Desiree and remedy their situation in anyway possible.

Arriving at the plantation of the Valmonde, the sight of an untidy and frantic Armand left Madam Valmont curious of his visit as he asked, “Where is Desiree? I must apology for my irreparable mistakes!” Later to his shock, and more importantly Madam Desiree’s, the absence of the mother and her child may only leave the worst to be assumed for the heartbroken mother – leaving the smoldering sparks of his hope to fall identical to the ashes of the letters. Staring at his darken and blistering hands, he may only ask himself in self-loathing, “What have I done? What has become of me?”

My understanding of the story would leave me to believe that Armand would quickly rethink his assumptions and try to remedy the problems, but little did he know the impact of his previous choice would have on Desiree. Desiree, I believe, in her sorrows did not know how to continued her life falling from love in the eyes of Armand leading her to detest and destroy what caused the ruin of the relationship – being herself and their child. The walk away from the L’Abri could only be the departure of the lives of Armand’s misunderstood wife and child.

Discussion Post – 2

Darren

The race of the writer is extremely important when the narrative deals with issues of race, because for example, a white woman such as Kate Chopin will never really understand the experiences of those who live under the circumstances of racism. She might be able to gain more knowledge by surrounding herself with those who have actually lived through racism, but her account will never be as accurate or personal as it would be coming from, say a Black person. Especially since Chopin is on the receiving end of racism, she might underestimate or not truly be able to understand how the lives of Black people have been affected or damaged by it. When dealing with issues of race it is most important that we get narratives from those who actually live through it, because those voices will be the most honest and authentic narratives. The same applies to any narrative that describes all groups of oppressed people.

Discussion 1 – Chopin

Darren

He drops the letter, and turns around to look out towards the field. He looks around at where he stands, feeling dizzy and unsure of who he is. His blood begins to boil as he realizes the lie that he has been living, and the truth that he was kept from. He realizes the hypocrisy that he and those around him have lived, and how wrong he was. He turns around and calls out: 

“Desiree!’ “Desiree”

But she was long gone, and she didn’t come back. Armand dropped to his knees and looked up at the sky as if he could see through the tears that fell as he did. He knew the truth and couldn’t avoid the sinking feeling of misery, the same pain that Desiree had felt.  He wished that he would’ve known the truth earlier, so he could’ve righted his wrong before it was to late, and it was. He grabs the letter, and leaves, freeing the slaves, and freeing himself from the lies that he lived under.

Rationale:

“And the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slaves” (Chopin 4).

Armand’s treatment of his slaves was cruel, and once he discovered the truth about his own family, i think that he would’ve become engulfed in shame, hypocrisy and guilt. He can no longer justify his actions because once he realizes that his wife and children belong to the same race that he treats horribly, and that even him himself belongs to the same race. Everything that he once knew was shattered in that one moment, and everything after changes.

Chopin

Skyy Woodroffe

I think race does matter when the narrative deals with issues of race. I think it would be better to write about issues of race if you are apart of it because the writer will have a better understanding of the struggles. Someone who is writing about someone else’s experience doesn’t fully capture how the person would feel vs the person who can relate to the experience. I think that they would also get some information incorrect if they were to write about issues of a race they are not apart of, unless they do a lot of research on the topic and talk with people who are experiencing these issues, but I think it’s better if someone of the same race writes about the issues. I think the narrative will be more accurate and give the reader a better understand of the issues they face.

Armand

Skyy Woodroffe

“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.”

I could imagine Armand pacing back and forth after reading that letter. He is in a state of shock after learning the truth and starts to freak-out the more he thinks about it. He realizes that he has black ancestry and he doesn’t know how to handle it because he doesn’t accept his own race, “Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand,” she laughed hysterically. “As white as La Blanche’s,” he returned cruelly; and went away leaving her alone with their child” (pg. 3). From that sentence, I came to a conclusion that doesn’t like and want to think about the possibility of him having black ancestry. After Armand calms down, I think he would start to go into denial and try to ignore the letter until it starts eating him up completely. I think he will eventually except the truth but keep it a secret for the rest of his life. I also think that he will beat himself up about how he turned his back on his family and will live in regret. for the rest of his life

discussion post 2: chopin

jayleen ramirez

Let me begin by noting that answering this question was difficult for me. You’re either writing from your own biases or stereotypes when writing from the perspective of another race. A writer can write about what he or she observes, but not about the feelings and thoughts of the person. The reading “Desiree’s Baby”, is an insightful commentary on race. However, the author, Kate Chopin, is unable to fully comprehend the feelings of a person sentenced to slavery, as well as the experiences of black people. Kate Chopin, a white woman whose family owned slaves at the time, used her writing to challenge social standards and address racial concerns. If a white writer is willing to research and get information about the black experience in order to reach an audience, then, isn’t that okay? However, she was not personally affected by the problems that people of color faced. I do not feel that those who are not members of the group should be given greater weight than those who are. I believe that everyone, regardless of ethnic origin, should use their voice to combat racial inequity.

Chopin 2:Race

Trinasia Harper

When race is being spoken of, I do believe the authors race should be considered. If a story is focusing mainly on minorities however the author is not apart of the minority being spoken of then their credibility does come into question. In dealing with issues of race I personally would feel that if the author was not a member of said race, then they would not be able to fully understand the struggles that race encounters. With that being said authors such as Kate Chopin, although they aren’t members of the races they speak of they do capture some of what that race has to deal with from an outside perspective.

Armand’s Reaction

Trinasia Harper

Armand stared at the letter, stunned, he couldn’t believe what he just read. This isn’t possible, he thought, it can’t be. His mind flashed back to his childhood, to his loving and supporting mother. The shock he felt before was now replaced with outrage an anger. How could she do this how could she hide this from him? Amidst all his anger and bewilderment arose a hint of sadness. It all made sense now, Desiree wasn’t the reason their baby looked as it did, he was. Armand was disgusted with himself, not only for what he did to Desiree but for who he now knew he was. He could never look at his slaves the same, knowing that part of their blood ran through his veins. After barely recovering from what he had just learned Armand knew what he had to do. He raced out of the house in search of his wife and child. He had to reconcile with Desiree and reunite his family. Armand searched and searched for them but they were nowhere to be found, they had disappeared and to Armand’s dismay never returned. For Armand life was over as he knew it, he spent the rest of his days regretting that fateful day wishing he could rewind time, he wished he’d never told her to leave and most of all he wished he’d never found that letter.

discussion post topic 1: armand

jayleen ramirez

In a state of shock, Armand drops the letter. People with whom he shares blood with he despises and considers as property.

“Shatter”

“Smash”

“Crack”

Armand snatches and tosses everything in his path. He is filled with rage and utter confusion on the inside. He wonders how they could have done this to him. How they could have failed to inform him of this. Armand sits at his desk for hours, staring at the letter and then back at the photo of Desire, him, and their child. He catches a glimpse of a photograph of his mother. He takes into account how people would treat her if they found out, and how cruel he was to his slaves. He was disgusted with his actions and with himself. Armand leaves the house to burn the letter. He goes to release the slaves and then to get his family back. 

“Desire, Desire!”, he calls out. “Where are they, Madame Valmonde?”

” Oh son, they went for a walk and never returned.”

Armand collapses to the ground.

Rationale:

“And the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slaves.” (Chopin 4).

“Moreover, he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had
brought upon his home and his name” (Chopin 5).

As we can see, Armand treated slaves badly. And when he discovered that his wife and child were allegedly black, he tells them to leave. As a result, in this alternate ending, he is ashamed of himself after finding out the truth, frees the slaves he tortured who he shares the same blood with, and returns to his family.

Armand

Alkasti

Armand sat with the letter in his hand, unable to move, unable to think. As he gathers his thoughts he begins to dread who he is and what he is worth. He loses sight of any reason to continue living now that his identity and value have been tarnished with the biggest betrayal he can imagine. He slowly begins to walk away from the plantation leaving everything behind and never returns. He leaves without looking back, and with no thought. Upon finding out that he is black, Armand will feel self-hatred and betrayal for being lied to his whole life.  He may even be in denial and pretend like he never read that letter. Continuing the existing tone of this story I would have him write a letter to Desiree to apologise for the way he treated her and their baby out of embarrassment and shame.