A last name is a brand. It has been since the beginning of time. Poor Romeo and Juliet found out the hard
way that a rose would not smell as sweet if it were called something else. And now Desiree has been thrown to the
wind because she did not live up to her new name. A last name is an expectation.
Desiree’s Baby is one of those stories that will stick with me for the long run. I’ll remember this story forever because it actually hurt. my. feelings. If I could yell at Armand today, I would. I would start off by asking him why he married her. He knew that she was “nameless” from the very beginning. So I have to question, was this his ego overriding his judgement? He wanted to “give her one of the oldest and proudest (names) in Louisiana,” but why would he give a nameless girl his name- he didn’t know where she came from, what her origin was? Was there any ounce of question as to who she was/what she was capable of, or was Armand too wrapped up in the fact that he could save a nameless girl? This is the story of a woman being swooped off of her feet by a prince charming. Only this story doesn’t have a happy ending… unfortunately. It disgusts me to know that he did save her and for a while, he was her prince charming- and then when he thought she messed up, or “injured” his name, he made her leave. You can’t begin to love someone and then decide on a whim, without extensive assessment that you don’t anymore. If I could have given Armand advice I would have told him to hold his son, hold his wife’s hand and walk through it. A marriage is a life commitment, it is a sacrament. You don’t go before any god and marry one another unless your vows are concrete.
*Sidenote, if this story had been a novel it would have been awesome to have a scene from the wedding and to hear the vows. Then, maybe if the vows had taken front and center the cruelty of race in this story could have been overrun by the power of true love. And yes, I watch too many Nicholas Sparks movies for my own good.
Love is a decision and a commitment.
This story proves to me that in those
days your name and the color of your skin ruled over love, and it ruled over
marriage. Desiree and Armand weren’t a fling, they weren’t an
on-again-off-again type of romance, but a married
couple. I’d ask Armand how “passion that awoke in him that day, when he saw
her at the gate” transformed into “the very spirit of Satan.” Speaking
personally, how terrifying is that? Someone can be so utterly in love with you
one day, and then the next day only harbor coldness for you. I wonder what the
divorce rate of married people was back then? Lastly, I’d ask Armand if it was worth it. His name was such
a precious penny to him, and now it’s tainted. It’s not tainted because of
Desiree, though. It’s tainted by his ego and by his pride. I’m going to assume
that he didn’t know about the letter from his mother, and he wasn’t throwing
his wife and son out because he was too ashamed of himself. No, I am going to
believe that as he was burning their stuff, and he read the letter, his stomach
dropped and he exhaled, “shit.” I am choosing to believe that in the end he
realized how bad he messed up; and I really do wish there was a part 2 to this
story, I’m a sucker for a good ending.
What if this had taken place in the 21st century?
Back when the story was written men played a heavily dominated role over women. It wasn’t a woman’s place to fight for a relationship- if a man decided it was over, it was over. However, if this had all taken place in the 21st century, I guarantee Desiree would have put up more of an argument. A woman doesn’t simply allow herself to be glowing with happiness to “striving to penetrate the threatening mist that she felt closing about her” without picking a fight about it. And in this day and age he couldn’t have disowned his own child. *DNA* testing. Since I have decided to believe that Armand did not know about his own origin, I can bet that if this had taken place today, he would have been a changed man. That fierce ego he held so close would have been shattered, and rightfully so. What I’m saying is-
All is fair in love and war
Fight for what you love
Desiree should have fought harder; for herself, her son, her husband. You do not walk out of your own house defeated by a man that you are in love with, and him with you. As a reader I am screaming for Desiree! Talk to your husband! Make him hear you! Fight through this! It is the color of your child’s skin! Your healthy, beautiful child’s skin! Oh, it is only but a color! Why let your son be nameless after all of this? Your son will no longer have a brilliant name attached because neither one of you are fighting for an answer, but fighting about something that cannot be changed. How silly is that, when you really think about it? Nothing in the world is going to change the color of Armand’s skin, or the color of their baby’s skin. But I guess in the end that was the very problem; a name is not just a name, and the color of skin is not just a color. Unfortunately, both are taken so seriously that it ultimately ends in tragedy.
What if this had taken place in the 21st century?
Back when the story was written men played a heavily dominated role over women. It wasn’t a woman’s place to fight for a relationship- if a man decided it was over, it was over. However, if this had all taken place in the 21st century, I guarantee Desiree would have put up more of an argument. A woman doesn’t simply allow herself to be glowing with happiness to “striving to penetrate the threatening mist that she felt closing about her” without picking a fight about it. And in this day and age he couldn’t have disowned his own child. *DNA* testing. Since I have decided to believe that Armand did not know about his own origin, I can bet that if this had taken place today, he would have been a changed man. That fierce ego he held so close would have been shattered, and rightfully so. What I’m saying is-
All is fair in love and war
Fight for what you love
Desiree should have fought harder; for herself, her son, her husband. You do not walk out of your own house defeated by a man that you are in love with, and him with you. As a reader I am screaming for Desiree! Talk to your husband! Make him hear you! Fight through this! It is the color of your child’s skin! Your healthy, beautiful child’s skin! Oh, it is only but a color! Why let your son be nameless after all of this? Your son will no longer have a brilliant name attached because neither one of you are fighting for an answer, but fighting about something that cannot be changed. How silly is that, when you really think about it? Nothing in the world is going to change the color of Armand’s skin, or the color of their baby’s skin. But I guess in the end that was the very problem; a name is not just a name, and the color of skin is not just a color. Unfortunately, both are taken so seriously that it ultimately ends in tragedy.
