Rebecca Harding Davis’ “Life in the Iron Mills” is a short story authored in 1861 and published the same year in The Atlantic Monthly. Davis was a journalist and author of American origin who initiated literary realism in American literature. The story explores women and labor issues in a nineteenth-century factory world. On the other hand, Kate Chopin’s “Désirée’s Baby” is a short story published in 1893. Chopin was a novelist and short stories writer of American descent. “Désirée’s Baby” describes the social norms during the antebellum period, such as miscegenation in Creole Louisiana. Identifying the setting of both stories is necessary to obtain the information necessary to analyze one of the protagonists. In “Life in the Iron Mills,” Deborah Wolfe steals money from Michelle for Hugh Wolfe, Deborah’s husband. Deborah does not consume alcohol despite the social challenges she experiences and the temptations to engage in alcohol and struggles to deliver meals to Hugh while he is at work in an attempt to make Hugh love her back. In “Désirée’s Baby,” Désirée confronts her husband, Armand Aubigny, concerning their baby. In addition, Désirée allows people around her to take care of her and continues to live with Armand despite fearing his temper. According to the information from the two stories, Deborah and Désirée are different in their approach to social challenges but similar in how they display boldness, confidence, and persistence.
Firstly, Deborah and Désirée exude a willingness to act innovatively and take risks in order to alleviate their respective social challenges. Deborah questions her husband about what he would do if he had the money necessary to take her “wid her and Janey” out of the city (Davis, 2020). Subsequently, Deborah sobs while thrusting a small amount of money into Hugh’s hand while admitting she stole the money, to which Hugh responds, “has it come to this?” (Davis, 2020). This scene suggests that Hugh and Deborah were in need of some money, and Deborah was more willing to take the risk of stealing it to solve their financial issues. Désirée questions Armand concerning the phenotype of their child by stating look at our child,” while asking him about the child’s physical traits (Chopin, 1893). It is explained that Désirée called her husband “in a voice which must have stabbed him” (Chopin, 1893). This scene suggests that Désirée was willing to get answers concerning the reason for her child having different physical traits from her parents at the expense of her relationship with her husband. This concept is because Désirée confronts her husband in a manner that would cause the deterioration of their relationship. Essentially, Deborah and Désirée are bold because they are willing to take extreme measures to address factors that might cause them to experience social challenges.
Secondly, confidence is an elementary factor in both Deborah and Désirée’s ability to execute daily routines in their lives. Therefore, evaluating the daily activities of the two characters would help elaborate on how having faith in other people or relying on something was necessary for the characters to execute their actions effectively. Deborah does not consume ‘drink” in order to escape the social challenges she experienced but “had some stimulants,” which included “love and hope” to help her face these challenges (Davis, 2020). This scene suggests that Deborah did not have faith in alcohol as an alleviatory measure for her social challenges but relied on love for her husband and hope for better days as an approach to address her social concerns. On the other hand, Désirée was adopted by Monsieur and Madame Valmondé as it is explained that the latter reflected on how Monsieur “found her lying asleep” and chose to take her as her daughter (Chopin, 1893). These scenes show that Désirée had lived her whole life under the care of Monsieur and Madame Valmondé, which suggests that she had confidence in them as her providers and guardians. Essentially, the two characters display their confidence in other characters in the social environment, suggesting they are similar.
Thirdly, Deborah and Désirée continued in their course of actions in spite of opposition or challenges within their respective social contexts. Therefore, it is necessary to elaborate on their social issues to justify their persistence. It is explained that for years, Deborah was “trying to please” Hugh because she loved him, but Hugh did not love her and was only kind to her due to his nature (Davis, 2020). On one occasion, it is explained that Deborah “sprang up” and started preparing a meal for Hugh when Janey mentioned that Hugh was working at night (Davis, 2020). Deborah insisted on taking the meal to Hugh despite Janey stating, “the rain’s sharp” (Davis, 2020). These scenes show that Deborah was willing to continue trying to make Hugh love her despite all the odds she experienced. On the other hand, it is explained how Désirée’s husband is strict by stating that “young Aubigny’s rule was” stringent, but Désirée proceeded to marry him and have a baby with him (Chopin, 1893). This scene alludes to the notion that Désirée continued with her plans despite knowing about Armand’s character; hence she might have subtly feared him but proceeded to marry him. Essentially, Deborah and Désirée acknowledged the factors that could impede their ability to attain fulfillment but proceeded to execute actions that subjected them to such impediments; hence, they were persistent.
Overall, Deborah and Désirée display different executions in approaching social issues but have similar traits with regard to boldness, confidence, and persistence. Deborah is one of the protagonists in “Life in the Iron Mills,” who exudes unique traits from other characters. On the other hand, Désirée is also one of the main characters in “Désirée’s Baby,” who displays complex traits unlike other characters and can be compared and contrasted to Deborah. Therefore, analyzing the activities, the two characters engaged in to solve their issues would help explain and justify that both are bold. In addition, it is imperative that the social challenges that Deborah and Désirée experience are explained in order to justify the notion that they display persistence. The daily routine of Deborah and Désirée helps explain how they had faith in specific people or things within their immediate environment; hence they exuded confidence.
References
Chopin, K. (1893). “Desiree’s Baby.”
Davis, R. H. (2020). Life in the iron mills: and other stories. Feminist Press at CUNY.
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