Discussion in the Context of Kate Chopins Desirees Baby - Term Paper Example

“How learning about another culture…..appreciate ones own culture and identity” – Discussion in the Context of Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby” Culture is an indispensable part of a man’s identity. The more a man learns about his own as well as others’ culture, the more he will love his own culture and identity. Indeed, knowledge of another culture endows a man with the knowledge about the differences between his own and the target culture. Thus, the knowledge about another culture helps him to identify the positive and the negative sides which exist in his own one. Therefore, after a thorough scrutiny of his cultures, he learns to appreciate those positive ones and to rejects the detrimental. Moreover, such comparative knowledge of foreign culture helps a man to view the same humanity in different colors, races, genders, places, practices, etc. In "Desirees Baby", Armand’s love turns into hatred and his joy becomes sorrow because of his racial pride and superiority complex. His inherent racism provokes him to push his wife and son cruelly to death. Though he knows that he is a Creole, he attempts hide his true identity. He hates his own identity and pretends to be a white. Indeed, he fails to love his true Creole identity, he knows very little either about the white slave-owning culture or the African-slave’s (also the Creole’s) culture. His parents prevent him from learning the true history and culture of the whites and the slaves in America. Due to this lack of knowledge about other cultures, Armand has failed to love and appreciate his own Creole culture and identity. Knowledge of another culture is very much important for the formation one’s cultural identity because it helps him to acquire a sense of humanity and tolerant view. When a man learns about different cultures and mixes with different people, he can perceive the same humanity existing in different cultural people. He learns that though people can be different by colors, races and genders, all of them have the same feelings about happiness and sorrows. Therefore, even if a man belongs to an inferior culture, he will be able to love it. The evil of racist self-pride overcomes Armand’s affection for the newborn baby and his love for his wife, Desiree. Textual evidences show that he has learnt about his origin before his marriage with Desiree. Instead of showing the least sign of remorse, he remains sober and calm as he “sat in the wide hallway that commanded a view of the spectacle” of the bonfire which is made up of the signs and remnants of Desiree in his life and “dealt out … the material which kept this fire ablaze” (Chopin 244). It is totally suspicious that Armand’s vehement love for Desiree and his son will subside as soon as he learns about the complexion of the child. The only possible reason behind choosing Desiree is that he might have calculated the possible complexion of his offspring and planned to blame his wife regarding his race. Margaret D. Bauer notes, “Armand [would] have at some point realized that his rights of inheritance would be in jeopardy should his racial heritage be discovered” (pars. 8). Also his calm and reserve reaction to the banishment of his wife and son can be explained as that he had been aware of his own race and, therefore, calculated the possible outcome of his child’s complexion. In this regard, Bauer further says, “[some critics] still miss the most important point: that Armand Aubigny has been aware all along of his own racial heritage” (pars. 1). All these evidences show that Armand has deliberately hated his own race. According to Mead’s proposition, had Armand learned about the inferior culture (culture of his slave), he would not have been so rigid in his attitude towards his wife and baby. People need to learn about different cultures because such knowledge will help him to appreciate his own culture and identity more lovingly. In this regard, Mead notes, “Knowledge of [another] culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own” (56). In fact, every culture has its own merits and demerits. Therefore, an in-depth knowledge about different helps a man to compare his own culture with others. Thus, he becomes able to learn about the positive and negative sides of his own culture. The positive ones make him feel proud of them and the negative ones help him to reject them and appreciate other cultures instead. In Chopin’s story, Armand cannot love his own Creole culture and identity because he does not know much about the white culture and the history of the African slaves in America. Armand does not have proper knowledge about the African-American slaves’ culture and history. By birth, he has learnt that he belongs to a proud slave-owner white Aubigny family because her parents made a sincere effort to hide the truth of Armand’s origin. The proof of their effort to hide Armand’s origin is the letter in which his mother thanks God, for their dear son Armand will “never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.” (Chopin pars. 22) Indeed, he adopts the racial superiority complex from the very beginning of his childhood since his parents taught him to think of himself as a white. For him, being a white is a matter of brutal pride and superiority over the inferior slave class. So it can be assumed that when he learns about his Creole origin, he has felt ashamed of the African blood in his vein. In this regard, Kenneth Clark’s notes about the socialization of a child about the racial construct of a society can explain Armand’s tendency to ignore or hide his own origin: “Learning about races and racial differences, learning one’s own racial identity, learning which race is to be preferred and which rejected—all these are assimilated by the child as part of the total pattern of ideas he acquires about himself and the society in which he lives” (19). Indeed, Armand has been socialized in such surrounding which prevents learning much about the culture and history of the African Slaves and teaches him only to hate them. Armand has no other way but to hide the truth at any cost. Chopin has made a frivolous attempt to draw the readers’ attention to Armand’s apparently flawless, yet suspicious, attraction and passion for Desiree. Learning about one’s own culture in comparison to others assists him to know who he is, what society he belongs to and what culture he inherits by birth. Therefore, such knowledge helps him to grow an affinity for his own self and his own culture. He feels deeply that he belongs to some people who inherit the genetic and cultural features. It grows a sense of belonging and inheritance which construct his identity. Thus, he begins to his own culture and identity. Knowledge only about one’s own culture sometimes may prove to be dangerous because, in such case, he cannot know the negatives and positives of his culture. If Armand’s parents as well as his surroundings would let him know about the culture and history of the African-American slaves and of the Creole, he would have been more tolerant to his own Creole origin. Armand’s parents deliberately hides Armand’s origin and have taught him to be a white. The proof of Armand’s French Creole origin is the following lines: “old Monsieur Aubigny having married and buried his wife in France, and she having loved her own land too well ever to leave it” (Chopin pars. 4). The letter of Armand’s mother also confirms his Creole origin. She affirms that Armand “belong to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (Chopin pars. 22). If Armand’s mother Mrs. Aubigny would not hide the true history and culture of the “race that is cursed with the brand of slavery”, Armand’s perception of his own Creole identity would have been different. In a paper, James D. Fearon defines identity as following: “Identity is peoples concepts of who they are, of what sort of people they are, and how they relate to others” (4). The more he would knew about his own Creole origin along with the culture and history of the African slaves in America, the more he would grow an affinity and a sense of sameness with both the American White and the African Black culture. He could know that he inherits genealogical and cultural features of both of the whites and the slaves. Therefore, he would have been less allergic to the discovery that African blood runs through his vein. He could accept Desiree and his son more easily. In conclusion, it can be said that Armand does not know much about the African slaves’ culture. Furthermore, he is not aware of the history of the slaves in America. His parents prevent him learning about his own as well as the slave culture. He is only taught to think as a white. Therefore, he has failed to love and appreciate his Creole or mixed race. If his mother had told him the truth about his origin, he would have known who he really is and how he inherits the bloods of both of the white slave-master and the slaves. Had Armand known about the tragic history of the African slaves in America, he would not have hesitated to show mercy to his slaves and probably he would not have pretended to be a white slave-owner. Moreover, he might not deliberately drive Desiree away from his home. Instead, he might be proud to have her as his wife. The same is applicable to Desiree. Had she had the knowledge of the history and culture of the Creole, the white and the African, she would not have accepted Armand’s decision so passively. Instead, she would protest firmly and inquire into the complexion of her new born. Thus she could have reveal the truth about Armand’s Creole origin. Works Cited Bauer, Margaret D. "Armand Aubigny, Still Passing After All These Years: The Narrative Voice and Historical Context of ‘Désirée’s Baby’." Critical Essays on Kate Chopin. Ed. Alice Hall Petry. New York: Hall, 1996. 161-183. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 170. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. Chopin, Kate. "The Father of Desirees Baby." 1893. 12 April 2013. [Online] Available at http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=ChoDesi.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1 Clark, Kenneth B. Prejudice and Your Child. Boston: Beacon, 1955, Fearon, James D. What is Identity (As We now Use the Word). Department of Political Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 November 3, 1999 Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. Yale University, 1928 Read More