Editor's Choice
Who is responsible for Désirée's death in "Désirée's Baby", and what evidence from the story supports this?
Quick answer:
Armand is primarily responsible for Désirée's presumed death in "Désirée's Baby." He cruelly casts out Désirée and their child after suspecting her of mixed race, driven by societal prejudices and fear of social ruin. Despite his love for her, Armand chooses to adhere to racist norms, shattering Désirée emotionally. While society's prejudices influence his actions, Armand ultimately makes the decision to reject her, leading to her disappearance and implied demise.
If indeed Désirée and her baby do end up dead, then Armand will bear the lion's share of responsibility. After all, he is the one who's angrily cast them out without providing them with any means of support. Armand knows full well that for a young woman and her child in such circumstances, there's really no place to go. So much scandal will have attached itself to Désirée's name that she and her child will become outcasts, and no one will want to support them.
At the same time, one could argue that Armand himself is a victim of society's prejudice. This is what he's grown up with; this is what has poisoned his mind. Yes, he had a choice to ignore society's stifling prejudices concerning race, but in such an environment, that's always easier said than done. Armand knows that if word got out about Désirée's past, it would...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
ruin him socially, so he feels the need to protect himself. And the only way he can do this is by casting Désirée and her baby out into the wilderness. That's not to justify his decision in any way, but rather to explain precisely where it is that Armand's coming from and why he makes such a cruel and fateful decision.
Yes, I would say that Armand is at fault for Desiree's death. Desiree writes to her mother, Madame Valmonde, saying that "'Armand has told me I am not white [....]. I shall die. I must die. I cannot be so unhappy, and live.'" Desiree adores her husband, and he has broken her heart by treating her cruelly, apparently as a result of his belief that she is of mixed race. She presents Armand with the letter from her mother, instructing her to return to her childhood home and her loving parents (who obviously do not care what race she is). Armand tells Desiree, in no uncertain terms, to go, that he wants her to leave his house. The narrator says,
He thought Almighty God had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him; and felt, somehow, that he was paying Him back in kind when he stabbed thus into his wife's soul. Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name.
She walked slowly away, "hoping he would call her back," but he did not. More than that, he even refused to answer her when she bid him good-bye. Armand treats his wife as someone who means nothing to him, and he completely shatters her. It's true that he is a product of his society, a society that classes people with dark skin far below people with white skin, but Armand still has a choice whether or not to go along with social convention. After all, Desiree's race does not matter to her adopted parents; her husband could make the same choice and will not.
In regards to the first part of your question, readers do not know for sure that Desiree and her baby die. Chopin writes only that Desiree is never seen again. But, if you assume that she and the baby died or even if you focus on Desiree's expulsion from society, most of the blame does lie with Armand. Armand obviously loved Desiree when they first married, but he allows society's standards and racism to influence him negatively. His giving in to the prejudice of his day is similar to Huck's friendship with Jim warring with what he has been taught by society in Huck Finn. You could also argue that American society trained Armand to think in such a way; so therefore, it is ultimately responsible for Desiree's fate.
The most specific parts of the story that demonstrate that Armand or society are at fault are near the end when Armand simply states that Desiree is not white and that that is the reason she must leave. Afterward, when Armand burns Desiree's and the baby's possessions and finds his mother's letter, his mother's words place the blame on society for prejudice. She writes that she is glad that her son will never know that he
" 'belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.' "