英二 1 14 th Apr. 2013

 “It means, ” he answered lightly, “that the child is not white; it means that you are not white.”  Desiree’s mother reply to her letter: “My own Desiree: Come home to Valmonde, back to your mother who loves you. Come with your child.”

 Desiree’s husband wanted her to leave, and she turned away like one stunned by a blow and walked slowly toward the door, hoping he would call her back. However, he didn’t, and she went in search of her child and walked away.

 Desiree had not changed the thin white dress nor the slippers which she wore. She didn’t take the broad road which led to the far-off plantation of Valmonde. She walked across a deserted field, where the stubble bruised her tender feet and tore her thin gown to shreds. She disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks, and she did not come back again.

 The last thing to go was tiny bundle of letters that Desiree had sent to him during the days of their espousal. There was the remnant of one back in the drawer from which he took them. But it was not Desiree’s; it was part of an old letter from his mother to his father.

AArmand’s mother was thanking God for the blessing of her husband’s love: “But above all,” she wrote, “I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery”

 ____ Desiree was glad that her child was not white.  ____ Desiree’s husband thought the child was not white because Desiree was not white. F T

 ____ When Desiree asked her husband if she should leave, her husband said yes and didn’t call her back.  ____ Desiree’s Mom asked her to come home to Valmonde without the child. F T

 ____ Desiree did not take the broad road which led to the far-off plantation of Valmonde. She walked across a deserted field, where the stubble bruised her tender feet and tore her thin gown to shreds.  ____ Zandrine was a baby sister and Desiree took the child from her arms. T F

 ____ Desiree disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks; and she came back soon.  ____ Finally, Desiree’s husband learned it was him not Desiree that had the brand of slavery. F T