Desiree’s baby is about a young white woman whose baby turns out to be a quadroon. But how could that be? Both parents apparently look white. Well for one thing the era that they live in also affects the situation. They lived during the revolutionary through the civil war era most likely. This puts a lot on pressure on both characters. Since being black in that era automatically makes you a slave and inferior in the human race. Then there is also the factor of someone’s family history. Due to that there is a lot of racism and injustice throughout the story of Desiree and her newborn baby.
One example is that her husband, Armand, keeps a large plantation with numerous slaves. A plantation owner who also mistreats his slaves through a wide extent. Then there is also the consideration of Armand’s character. Armand is described as strict and imperious. Another example is the equation that Thomas Jefferson created. The blood rule is that even one drop of African in your DNA automatically makes you an African. If you are a mulatto, a quadroon, or if you look completely white but there was an African American marriage you are still black. Then there are also some physical attributions that can tell a white person and an African apart. One example is if the bottoms of your ear lobes are loose. Then you are automatically African. Due to these indication and regulations it was a shame for somebody to be part of the African culture.
So anyway Desiree is the mother of the quadroon baby. Instead of investigating of where the quadroon baby could have come from the family descendants all the blame is put on Desiree due to two important factors. One factor is that Desiree is a woman. Women are often seen through suspicious eyes during that era. Woman can’t also voice their opinions, so Desiree couldn’t possibly say anything in her defense. The other factor is that Desiree’s family history is unknown. She was found as a toddler and raised by Madame Valmonde. So that also put Desiree under suspicious since her family and history are unknown. Armand on the other hand, is a respected plantation owner. His father was white and so was his mother. This gives him the upper hand since he knows who his parents were. Even when Desiree points out that she has gray eyes and that her skin is whiter than his, he still refuses to believe her. At the end Desiree leaves with her baby back to Madame Volmonde. At the same time all the love Armand felt for Desiree dies.
At the end Armand is seen throwing out everything that once belongs to both Desiree and the baby. Towards this task he finds a letter that his mother wrote to his father. His mother reveals that he is actually the quadroon and throughout his bloodline if was he who passed it to his young son. The end of the story is ironic. Since the African race is something that Armand despises and hates. He is also a plantation owner and owns hundreds of slaves. Not only is he a plantation owner but he mistreats his slaves and gives them severe punishments. It is also ironic since he blamed Desiree for the misfortune of their baby. But it was actually him who was to blame. At the end he loses his son and the woman who loved him. But he also loses part of himself. A white man during that era is considered above all others, even more if that white man owns a large amount of property such as Armand. Now Armand is left with the decision about how to embrace this true or just ignored. The reader never knows and author leaves the reader to wonder of what will happen to Desiree and her baby’s future now that the truth is revealed.