Desirees Baby and Yellow Woman Essay Example For Students

Desirees Baby and Yellow Woman Essay English 1B 28 June 2010 Desiree’s Baby and Yellow Woman Even if things seem perfect on the surface, defined perfection is not set in stone – this is the common theme between â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† by Kate Chopin, and â€Å"Yellow Woman† by Leslie Marmon Silko. Both leading women, Desiree and Yellow Woman, have a content life at home until a catalyst makes them realize sometimes having everything is not enough, forever. This theme along with other elements is put to good use in each of the short stories; characterization, point of view, plot and structure (referring to Alice Adam’s outline ABDCE) are examples of the elements the authors used. The catalyst in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† is the moment that Desiree and her husband Armand discuss why their child’s skin complexion is different than their own. Armand is quick to assume that it is Desiree who is not white in origin – which readers find out later it was actually his own mother who is not. It is because of this that Armand is the antagonist of this story. Before their child was noticeably of different complexion, Armand and Desiree were deeply in love. Chopin described in her first few paragraphs the day Armand first took a liking to Desiree. It was no wonder, when she stood one day against the stone pillar in whose shadow she had lain asleep, eighteen years before, that Armand Aubigny riding by and seeing her there, had fallen in love with her. That was the way all the Aubignys fell in love, as if struck by a pistol shot. 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. The passion that awoke in him that day, when he saw her at the gate, swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles (570). It is ironic how a man fell out of love Desiree, just as easily, and fast, as he fell in love. According to one critic, Armand let his â€Å"love of his wife soften him temporarily and perhaps offer him a psychological reprieve, but his actions clearly indicate that he is a man filled with torment and confusion† (Foy). This critic blames Armand’s actions on his unconsciously repressed childhood memories of his mother. Foy also believes that â€Å"With racial prejudice and psychological confusion as the sources of his cruelty, Armand has no choice but to turn from Desiree and the baby† (Foy). He physically has a choice, but mentally he feels he can not cross that specific boundary in his life. It is because of this mental selfishness, that Armand suffers the loss of a loving wife and son and potential for a happily ever after. The catalyst in â€Å"Yellow Woman† is not a moment, but a person – Silva – another male alleged to be the antagonist of the story. Silva is the man who â€Å"kidnapped† Yellow Woman and stole her away from her home and family. At home, she lived with her mother, grandmother, husband (Al), and their baby; these were the people she hurt and abandoned for this three day adventure. She had only heard tales of the â€Å"Yellow Woman† and the ka’tsina (mountain) spirit from her grandfather: â€Å"Yellow Woman went away with the spirit from the north and lived with him and his relatives. She was gone for a long time, but then one day she came back and she brought twin boys† (257). Silva met the innocent girl the night before the story takes place alongside the river. It was then that Silva had swooned her into thinking he was the ka’tsina spirit and that she was Yellow Woman. This is the reason I believe why she was mislead so easily. That and her strong faith in her grandfather’s tales lead her inner influence to go with the man who claimed he was the talked-about ka’tsina spirit. Both women are mothers with seemingly entirely different bonds with their child. Yellow Woman† rarely refers to her child so the reader is left with the impression that: she must not love her child like a mother should. Whereas Desiree’s character is always depicted as lighting up or glowing when she talks about her child and his affect on their new family: Desiree’s face became suffused with a glow that was happiness itself. ‘Oh Armand is the proudest father in the parish, I believe, chiefly because it is a boy to bear his name; though he says not, that he would have loved a girl as well. But I know it isn’t true. I know he says that to please me The Origin Of Humanity EssayFor Desiree it was thought she would return to Madamn Valmonde’s with her child, but instead she surprised the reader’s expectations and did not. Chopin’s readers were also curious as to who had the altered bloodline that resulted in this decision having to be made. Silko’s readers were wondering how far Yellow Woman was going to take her and Silva’s relationship and if she would ever return home to her duties as a wife, daughter, granddaughter, and mother. Both the authors’ chosen resolution was not revealed until the last few paragraphs of their stories leaving their readers in suspense from beginning to end. In â€Å"Yellow Woman†, Silko let her readers be blind to the fact that Yellow Woman had a husband and child at home. Silko did so to let readers have an opinion on what Yellow Woman should do before letting in on the knowledge of her family’s existence. This is where Silko sparked the reader’s interest in wondering what would happen to Yellow Woman in the end. This also let the readers first believe that Yellow Woman’s affair is harmless, and maybe she should risk the chance encounter for a whirl wind romance and a chance at love. Silko characterized Yellow Woman and her decision to continue with Silva to be innocent, until later when we are informed of her family, readers then see Yellow Woman as otherwise. Chopin characterized Desiree in a way that the readers felt sympathy for her. In the beginning of the story, Chopin says â€Å"She grew to be beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere, the idol of Valmonde† (570). In this sentence readers are early on affectionate toward this girl because they know of her good qualities and Chopin wanted readers to be on Desiree’s side from the beginning hence using the omniscient narrarator perspective. Using this free indirect style, the author portrayed Desiree to be â€Å"sincere† and worded her actions throughout the rest of the story to further persuade readers, and they believed nothing less of her than sincerity. Even if things seem perfect on the surface, defined perfection is not set in stone. The reason this is chosen as the theme for both stories is because both women had a â€Å"perfect† life at one point in time until a negative catalyst got involved. In the end, both women independently make their decision – to go opposite the catalyst. This is another thing both stories have in common besides the theme. Both authors, Chopin and Silko, did a great job in portraying this theme, structure as well as plot, characterization, and their chosen point of view. In spite of their differences and similarities, both stories illustrate the lives of women undergoing unfortunate major life-changing decisions that they are forced to make that misconstrued the perception of their defined perfect life. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"Desiree’s Baby. † Making Arguments About Literature. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2005. 569-574. Marmon Silko, Leslie. â€Å"Yellow Woman. † Making Arguments About Literature. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2005. 253-262. Reso Foy, Roslyn. â€Å"Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby. † Explicator Summer 91, Issue 4 (49: 222) Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. Retrieved 28 June 2010. From C+/B- =( WTFFFF