Kate Chopin introduced a different region of the South that we had yet to see in our readings. This region brings along with it a new and different culture also. In our previous readings the only classes that we had really seen were white plantation owners and black slaves. Chopin focused on the Louisiana bayou area where people came from both Hispanic and French ancestry, greatly influencing the culture.
There was a difference between the classes in "At the Cadian Ball" and "After the Storm" but it did not appear to be as dramatic as the separation between slave owners and slaves in our other readings. Bruce was mentioned as a slave belonging to Alcee but Bruce was described more in terms of being a servant. The slaves that were mentioned in "At the Cadian Ball" and "After the Storm" were not described the way Frederick Douglass described a slave's life. The description of Bruce was similar to the way that John Pendleton Kennedy described his slaves in "Swallow Barn." Kennedy described his slaves in a way that implied that slaves enjoyed their life. Kennedy and Chopin both seemed to imply that slaves were content with their lifestyle, the importance of the story was not placed on the slaves though, it was centered on particular white characters or a white-based theme. Slaves were not the important part of the story, or of the daily lives of white Southerns (or the Cajuns and Creoles), they were necessary to keep life running but were not accredited with this.
In "Desiree's Baby," Chopin place much more emphasis on the slave. This was necessary to explain the social impropriety that surrounded having a child of mixed race. Calixta who was a central character in both other readings by Chopin was also of mixed race which readers were made aware of in her detailed description but she did not have "black blood." Being any part black is where the impropriety and out-right disgrace laid. Armand had several slaves and treated them horribly, he was more like the slave masters that Douglass described, he really emphasized the class difference. So although the first two pages of the story was Chopin described and convincing readers of Armand's love for Desiree, as soon as the baby started to show signs of being of mixed race, it was almost a surprise how fast and completely Armand rejected both the baby and Desiree. Chopin had us, as readers, completely convinced that Armand really loved Desiree. It made you twice as aware of how horrible they considered a child who looked like they are partially black to be there own. This social wrong out-weighed everything else.
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I find that what Chopin wrote about was super interesting too. I love the fact that she goes into southern society and shows us what it was like for the Creoles and the Cajuns. I love how her characters show their social status and don't care about it when it comes to passion. I find that even though she wrote things that were questionable for the time period, hey brought forth a period that we never saw until now.
In everything that we have read so far, we've seen that relationships between slaveholders and slaves, or in other words, between whites and blacks, do occur, but are frowned upon. In Frederick Douglass' writings, we find that his mother was a black slave, while his father was a white slaveholder. Douglass never knew who is father was, and barely knew his mother. However, Douglass was kept in slavery almost all of his life.
In Chopin's writings, there are many characters of mixed races. But, none of these characters lead a life of a slave. Instead, these characters seem to be wealthy, happy, and in love. In "Desiree's Baby," both Desiree and Armand are mulatto, but neither of them is shunned from society. In fact, Desiree was adopted into a loving, well off family. Chopin does give us a sense that mixing races is not socially acceptable, but she touches upon it in a different manner.
it was different how Chopin introduces two different racesm the Creoles and the Cajuns. I was also so used to hearing about the white people and the black people. In a way it was becoming boring and Chopin's writings, in my opinion spiced things up a little. It was weird, the thing about Bruce. I wasn;t quite sure if he was a servant (indentured), or a slave. The way that he was spoken to by Clarisse or whoever, made him seem like a slave. But i'm still not sure. But the focus of the reading was obviously not on Bruce and therfore to talk aobut the other classes and the status was very interesting.
I thought it was interesting that after reading the three stories I could put together that the overall goal was displaying the flaws in the way society looked at the differences in people. Whether it is the Cajun vs. Creoles or Black vs. White, her stories showed that these issues should not be important, but obviously controlled society. In “The `Cadian Ball” and “The Storm” she displayed this by showing that it didn’t matter if a person was Cajun or Creole, eventually if people really wanted to be together they will be. Alcee and Calixta in the eyes of the public were not supposed to be with each other, but when the public was not there to judge them they went ahead and did what they wanted. In “Desiree’s Baby” this was shown by the unfortunate event of Desiree killing herself and her baby due to the possibility of her race, while in reality it was Armand that was “tainted.” In both cases the characters in the stories were scared of the thoughts of society, when in reality these issues should not have mattered.
I liked how this story didn't really focus on the slaves in an in your face or naive way like the other stories thus far in the course. In Swallow Barn the slaves were depicted as happy and just going about their business- almost as if they LIKED being slaves...well we all know that just isn't true. In Douglass' piece we read accounts of the brutality that the slaves faced- and that wasn't something that intrigued me either. But Chopin, depicts Bruce (which is my dads name, and I thought this was really weird while reading the story since I never ever met any other person named Bruce before)as being a servant, which is like you said. Alecee actually did hard labor as well, so it seemed the slaves were on a more even playing field, it that's possible.
Then onto Desiree's Baby. We don't really hear much about the slaves, just that Armand is a harsh master. We really get introduced into the idea of mixed race slaves, and this relates back to Douglass' piece when he was telling how they got treated the worse on the plantations.
People were so afraid of race mixing that they allowed it to rule thier lives- it was completely stupid. Armand is supposedly madly, and deeply in love with Desiree, then as soon as he finds out she might have mixed blood he just loses that love. It's like you said, other people's opinions weighed and what was the social norm was all that mattered. Armanda was able to just forget true love and the family and son he was "so proud of."
I think that it is a really good point that you made when you said that we had not seen this view of the south. Bruce was definatly portrayed much differently than such slaves as say Douglass.
I thought this was kind of funny when I read this because when we had to write that piece in class, I actually wrote that there were no slaves in the Chopin stories. I did not even think of Bruce of being a slave. I did not even notice that I didnt think of it like that. I guess I must have just figured he was a "servant."
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