Structure and narrative techniques

We will now help you with the structure of "Désirée's Baby", then talk about narrative techniques, language and style features.

Inner and outer conflicts

The story is structured around the inner and outer conflicts of the characters. Madame Valmondé has an inner conflict about whether to tell her ‘daughter’ or not about the skin color of the baby. Désirée has an inner conflict when she realizes the baby is creole. Armand has an inner conflict when he realizes that he is the one with creole roots. The outer conflict is the discussion between Armand and Désirée about her going back to the Valmondé estate.

The story is constructed using several narrative techniques and language features. Here are some of them:

Point of view and narrator

The short story is a third-person narration. The narrator has limited knowledge of facts but has access to characters’ thoughts. The events are presented from mixed perspectives: Désirée’s and Madame Valmondé’s: “When the baby was about three months old, Désirée awoke one day to the conviction that there was something in the air menacing her peace”. (p. 24, ll. 15-17)

Composition and narrative techniques

The author employs various narrative techniques which make the story more interesting and attractive to readers:

Backstory. The narrator gives the reader a background story of  the main characters Armand and Désirée, details which are relevant for their baby’s origins, and give meaning to current circumstances:

Why, it seemed but yesterday that Désirée was little more than a baby herself; when Monsieur in riding through the gateway of Valmondé had found her lying asleep in the shadow of the big stone p...