Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin This essay will focus on Kate Chopin's short story and her use of symbols, settings, and characters. Desiree's Baby was perhaps one of the best stories I've ever read. Analyzing it wasn't easy at all. His use of symbols was very difficult to understand. At first it doesn't make sense. But if you think critically, all the symbols, settings, and characters in this literature blend together into one amazing story. Literary Analysis of Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin "Tell me what it means!" he shouted desperately. It means,” he replied lightly, “that the child is not white; it means you are not white” (Chopin, p. 192). "Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin is a well-known short story. “Throughout her life, Kate Chopin actively sought female spiritual emancipation and expressed it in her writings” (Deter, 2000). Throughout the story, Kate Chopin uses symbolism to convey her themes of racial predisposition, unequal gender roles, and social scale in a society. The characters and setting of this tale help give readers a greater understanding of how patriarchal our society was at the time. The story begins with the narrator talking about Desiree and how she was found sleeping, next to the entrance to the property. It was evident that it had been abandoned; there was speculation about who might have left the young child. The plot is set in Louisiana. During that particular era, and in this region, large plantations were very common, as was slavery. The family that found Desiree were plantation owners and… middle of paper… wants readers to know that if only women had the courage to walk dangerously through life, women could succeed at anything. And Desiree didn't look back. Fear was something Armand didn't know because he always had dominion over everything around him. It was in the last part of the story that he discovered a letter from his mother to his father that revealed that he was the one who was black. God enacted the final vengeance with the appearance of the letter. The story touches on several social issues that would not be talked about in specific places and times. The fight for women and discrimination against certain races continues today. The symbols, characters, and setting of this story helped me analyze the way Kate Chopin writes her work. I just wonder what Armand Aubigny would do after finding out he was one of them.