Whatever the answer is, you have to qualify it in some
way. What I mean is that the answer can be yes or no, depending on the perspective from
which you consider it.
For instance, if you are speaking in
terms of morality, then the answer has to be no. There is no way you can justify
throwing out your wife and child just because there is a possibility that they are not
"pure-blooded" white. He may as well have put a label on them, calling them unworthy or
impostors. No one in their circle would accept them
anymore.
And that's exactly why, from a practical
perspective, you can say that what Armand did can be justified. He saved his own
reputation by casting doubt on Desiree. His friends and neighbors, the whole social
system, would shun him the way he shunned her if they even suspected that he was the one
who had a black relative. It's convenient that Desiree was discovered abandoned as a
toddler. Her background is a mystery, so no matter how white she may appear, doubt can
easily be cast on her because no one knows where she came from or who her family is. Why
was she abandoned in the first place, hmmm?
As unappealing
as his actions are, he really had no other choice. Rather than an outcast, he will be
seen as the poor victim!
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