the horror of what people are capable of doing to other people

the history of the south and the "skeletons" of our past (civil war, slavery, etc.)

religious trauma and the fear of God's coming judgment

the fear of your neighbor and what they "could" be up to over there...

Both A and B

Both C and D

blood, gore, and the grotesque

towering mountains over deep fog

the dark and spooky woods; the enchanted forest

sowers, mowers, reapers, and the harvest

creepy castles, mansions, and estates

decay and deteriorating places, "haunted" settings

a whispering or burbling brook, murmuring truth

generational trauma, family curses, and inheritance

an oppressive, heavy sun; hot sluggish days, cool violent nights

plantations and agriculture

bayou and swamps; floods

cabins in the deep woods

huge oak trees, spanish moss

diction

repetition

metaphors

allusion

It is so easy to be hopeful in the daytime when you can see the things you wish on.

But it was night, it stayed night. Night was striding across nothingness with the whole round world in his hands.

They say in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against the cruel walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His.

They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.

Désirée is the baby mentioned whom Madame Valonde is going to see.

Désirée is the child Madame Valonde miraculously birthed, like a gift from God.

Madame Valmonde is Désirée's biological mother, but she gave her up at an early age to have a better life.

Madame Valmonde is Désirée's adoptive mother, after Désirée had been abandoned at Valmonde.

to let Armand marry Désirée without considering where she came from.

to allow Désirée to marry a man below her class.

to allow Désirée to marry at such a young age.

to let Armand and Désirée marry after knowing each other for such a short time.

She is worried that a servant may have switched the babies and has stolen her child from her.

She is saddened by his growth and how long she has been away, but the house frightens her.

She is overjoyed at how much the baby has grown since she last saw him.

She is surprised about the appearance of the baby and the color of his skin.

She starts to add up the timeline and realizes that her romantic partner before her husband might be the father.

Her grandmother reminds her that her parentage is questionable and no one knew her father.

She concludes this when she discovers the letter in the back of her desk, from Armand's mother.

She notices similarities between her baby and a child of mixed race who fans her baby.

leaves with the baby and they are both never seen again at L'Abri.

flees to Valmonde with the baby and never visits L'Abri.

abandons both Armand and the baby and never returns to L'Abri.

hides in the bayou with the baby and waits to return to L'Abri.

that the baby was never his in truth, but another's son.

that he misses his wife and cannot burn her things

a letter from his mother-in-law that details Désirée's true parentage

a letter from his mother that reveals he is part African-American

It symbolizes a class hierarchy, particularly the white upper class, established through difference in race and wealth.

It symbolizes the heights of Southern society and foreshadows a fall from the upper class.

It represents the antebellum South, valuing tradition and maintenance of the past.

It represents the power and wealth of the upper class.

The picture painted by Madame Valmonde contributes to the overall somber mood.

Madame Valmonde utilizes intimidating and gloomy imagery, heightening the tension in the story.

Madame Valmonde describes L'Abri as lacking a feminine care, contradicting the joyous mood of the newly made parents.

Madame Valmonde describes L'Abri as intimidating, glorifying the power of the South.

The story is about man's deepest, darkest "desires" and how we all deep down wish to burn and destroy our past, our history, our darkest secrets in fire.

The story is named for Désirée, the mother of this story, because Southern Gothic literature is all about motherhood, childhood, and our shared parentage of the American motherland.

The story is about Désirée's baby and about the children of the South. The fact that the baby goes missing is deeply symbolic and a haunting revelation that the future of the South is already lost, already sinking in the bayou.

The name "Désirée" is symbolic for the deeper subtext theme of this story, about love, desire, and children and how prejudice and racism divides what otherwise should be a story about love and family.

It is a natural, plant-based form of dye, used primarily to stain white fabric.

It is a dark deep blue, often compared to bruises, ink, midnight. An emotionally symbolic color.

It is related to indigenous peoples and punning off of the erroneous misnomer "Indian"

It is a color that is not found in nature, an artificial color, implying that this is not "natural"

Both A and B

Both C and D

He drowns in the information he has learned and cannot surface, despite trying to swing over the dangerours waters below.

He has rewritten the myth of the south and now has become one with nature, swinging through the trees.

He swings from a branch of the tree; either he has been lynched or has hanged himself.

He falls when swinging from trees on the mountain of truth and is lost deep beneath the sea of uncertainty.

lines 1-4

lines 5-6

lines 7-9

lines 10-13

is a silent witness to horrors it cannot teach, cannot stop

is as dead as the ghosts that haunt this forest

is dark and terrifying, hiding truths

is the only safe place for the boy, offering enlightenment