Desiree's Baby Foreshadowing

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Desiree's Baby is a short story written by Kate Chopin. The story begins with a visit from Madame Valmonde, who is Desiree's adopted mother. Madame Valmonde thinks back about how Desiree became part of her family. Desiree had been abandoned by her real parents, and Monsieur Valmonde had found her and brought her home. They had no other children, they felt that “Desiree had been sent by God”. Chopin uses foreshadowing and irony in many ways to show that issues of race can tear apart a family when if there is strong love.

In the story of “Desiree's Baby” foreshadowing occurs through the family background of Armand and also the way he is described. The wonder was, that he had not loved her before, for he had known her since his father brought him home from Paris, a boy of eight, after his mother died there. Clearly, the ending of the story, and the note that Armand discovers from his mother, …show more content…
Secondly, another major piece of foreshadowing occurs in the way that Armand is described. This subtle use of the word dark, compared to the whiteness of Desiree, is a descriptive note that we go back to after finishing the story and reassess, recognising the clue that Chopin plants in this one word concerning the origins of the darkness of Desiree's baby. When the baby is about three months old, Desiree finally sees what her mother had seen. A young mixed race boy is fanning the baby. Desiree sees that the baby has many of the negroid features similar to the other boy. Desiree asks Armand about the baby. Coldly, he tells her that the baby is not white, which means that Desiree is not white. Thinking
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