Desirees Baby: Armands Grief - Essay Example

Desiree’s Baby: Armand’s Grief The pyre outside burned mightily as Armand’s workers feed it with a graceful cradle of willow, with all its dainty furbishing. Armand Augbigny stared at the fire unseeingly clutching the piece of paper in his trembling hands. What have done? He loved Desiree so much and has always wanted to have her children running across the fields or ride horse with him. He had a son. A healthy and strong son. How could things go wrong? Still clutching the piece of paper in his hand, Armand dragged his feet towards his study. Sat heavily on the huge chair behind the massive table. He could not begin to imagine how he survived the weeks that followed Desiree’s disappearance. It was his fault. He should have seen in it coming. He should have know this will happen…Memories of his own mother holding his hand walking along the streets of Paris flashed back into Armands mind as he cradled his head in his palms in gesture of despair. As a six-year-old boy, Armand went to the fair with his parents. His father is a very distinguished man in France and had always been very protective of his mother and would seldom let her go alone without him. But today he some urgent business to attend to and had to let Armand and his Mother go to the fair accompanied by some servants. His mother looked was especially beautiful today with the ivory whiteness of her gown contrasting with the color of her skin. She looked at him and smiled her beautiful face glowing. Armand laughed gaily and started prancing along the sidewalk. Suddenly, there was a commotion. Young boys started throwing rotten tomatoes unto his mother calling her a Niger. Armand was furious upon seeing how his mother’s beautiful dress have bee ruined. “Stop it! Stop it! You nasty rascals, look what you’ve done!” Armand shouted. One of the boys started to throw a rotten tomato towards Armand saying, “And here’s for you Niger boy! You could use more colours in your skin!” Armand was so furious. He hurled himself in front of the boy and planted a punch on his nose. Armand could hear his mother shouting for help while the servants tried to pull him to safety. “Mother, why are people cruel to us?” Armand asked. “I am so sorry. I loved you so dearly and someday you will understand,” his mother replied. Armand’s father was furious when he learned of the incident at the fair. He explained to Armand that it was of no consequence and instructed them not to go out without him again. The incident was soon forgotten as a simply misadventure. Two years after the incident, Armand’s mother died and his father brought him to L’abri where he met Desiree. At L’abri, everything became clear to Armand who his mother really was. In France, he lived a sheltered life where he never thought that people with coloured skin are different. His mother’s skin has been quite dark but so had been everyone else in the house except for him and his father and they have always treated each other equally. His worst fears have been confirmed when he came across the letter written by his mother to his father. Indeed he is half black. Situations in L’abri didn’t make things any better. People with coloured skin are slaves and Armand balked at the thought that he is a descendant of the race cursed to slavery. He also found out that in places like L’abri, racial discrimination is so great that colored people are not allowed to hold properties but mere slaves, short of being properties of the white people. This reality scared Armand and made him vow never to let anybody know that his mother was colored. He tried so hard to ally his fears by imposing strict rules on the servants. He cannot be flawed as being soft and indulgent towards them for they might think that he is one of them. That is totally unacceptable. They are not supposed to know who he really is. Over the years, he became more and more convinced that placing himself as far apart from the servants would preclude them from knowing his secret. He is not a slave and he refused to be branded as having a blood of a slave in his system. He is an Aubigny, one of the oldest and proudest names in Lousiana. He is white. Armand thought that he is completely over the past when he married Desiree. She is as white as snow with eyes so gray and hair so brown. But fate wouldn’t let him deny his past completely. The son he bore reminded him of who he really is. That is unacceptable. Coming out of his reverie, Armand stared at the letter again. Slowly, he got up and approached the fireplace. “It was Desiree’s fault and hers alone. She had no name; she might as well come from a race of slaves. I am white. I am my father’s son!” Long and hard he stared at the letter before he took the match and lit the paper. Fire seared through his fingers as he refused to let go of the burning piece of paper. At last, he let the remaining piece fall into the fireplace where it was consumed and turned into ashes. His secret is safe now. No one will know who he really is. Reference: Desiree’s Baby online available at http://www.pbs.org/katechopin/library/desireesbaby.html Read More