Kate Chopin's short story, "Desiree's Baby," is filled with strong characters and scenarios that describe how life was in the South before the Civil War. Chopin effectively describes this by using a family scandal on a plantation. Chopin utilizes symbolism, setting, and characterization to develop her themes of racial and gender differences. Symbols can be found throughout the short story, "Desiree's Baby." One of the first obvious symbols is the stone pillar. It appears at the very beginning of the story, "When Monsieur in riding through the gateway of Valmondé had found her lying asleep in the shadow of the big stone pillar (Chopin, 1). Here, the stone pillar represents a turning point in her life ”a new beginning with the Valmonde family. The stone pillar returns shortly later in the text, "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" (Chopin, 1). Again, the stone pillar represents a turning point or a new beginning in her life. Similar to the first reference, this turning point marks the start of a new life with a man, Armand. In both cases, Desiree found a new beginning and new love by the stone pillar. This also suggests a gender difference ”both men were already well off and did not need someone to rescue them. Another important symbol that can be found at the very end of the short story is the letter that Armand reads from his mom to his dad. The words that his mom wrote give a surprise to both Armand and the reader, "It was part of an old letter from his mother to his father. 'But, above all,' she wrote, 'night and day, I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery'" (Chopin 4). This letter explains who Armand truly