Destinee Goode
Dr. Mallory
November 16, 2010
Literary Analysis Paper
In the stories “Everything that Rises Must Converge” and “Desiree’s Baby”, the main theme is
race. They show just how racism was such a huge part of the 1800s and that it affected everyday life
and certain situations of both blacks and whites. Although they are fictional, the overall message is
powerful and lesson can be learned from them and used in today’s society.
“Desiree’s Baby” was my favorite story of them both. To have no known ethnic background and
yet still be accepted was something that was stood out to me the most. The downfall for her was her
white slave-owning husband, Armand, and how he reacts to the color of the baby that they had
together. Armand clearly does not care about her ethnic background because her skin color is said to be
lighter than his own making it seem as though she was of the Caucasian race like he was (Chopin).
Everyone around her, including Armand and her own mother, could see that the baby is of a different
race. He shows that he is not pleased with how his baby looks and it shows in her attitude towards her.
What was once the loving, happy, and caring man that she knew and had grown to love had turned into
a bitter and angry person whom she didn’t recognize nor did she understand where it was coming from.
It was when she compared her baby’s skin to that of the slave boy that she had realized that his coldheartedness was because of that exactly: her baby’s skin. She tries to convince him that it couldn’t be
her in this passage:
"’It is a lie; it is not true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown….. Look at my hand; whiter than yours,
Armand,’ she laughed hysterically.” (Chopin)
She then knew that her marriage and her life were over when she asked him if he wanted her to
leave and he didn’t answer her. She then took her baby and went to the nearest alligator infested bayou
and took both their lives. Although Armand had shunned his wife and his baby, he soon was going to
discover the truth. It was him who was of the black race and he lost his family because of this reason he
knew nothing of.
This story has taught me so much. It has made me realize that knowing the facts is key before
making any assumptions in life. Armand made a vow to commit to her and to love her no matter what
and he turned her back on her because of the issue of her ethnicity. He assumed that it was because of
her that their baby was not fully white and because of that accusation, he lost his family. Making
judgments based on the color of one’s skin was the main issue in the setting of this story and it also
continues today. If racism continues in the world today, there will always be wars and conflict between
people. There are a lot of stereotypes that are give different races a bad reputation, but it’s up to the
people to not go off of such assumptions.
“Everything That Rises Must Converge” is the perfect example of racial assumptions. Julian’s
mother doesn’t like the black race because of how she assumes them to be. She believes that she is
better than the race, and Julian hates that fact about her (O’Flannery). He doesn’t realize, however, that
he uses the black people as toys to make his mother mad which indicates that he believes that they are
not real people and don’t have feelings.
I know that if all the racism stops, then there would be a better chance for crime rates to
decrease and there would be a better chance for world peace and there would be no need for extra
money to be spent on war weapons to be used in war against other countries.
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. "Desiree's Baby." Books & Literature Classics. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
<http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/kchopin/bl-kchop-desir.htm>.
O'Connor, Flannery. ""Everything That Rises Must Converge"" University at Buffalo - Wings Central
Campus Web Server. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
<http://wings.buffalo.edu/AandL/english/courses/eng201d/converge.html>.