The irony is that he is actually the carrier of the black gene that shows up in the baby. In "No name" the father is someone in the community and probably is present during the violent destruction of the family's home. Neither father is willing to take any responsibility for his child. Likewise, in both stories the conflict is resolved through the self-destruction of the woman. Desiree and her baby disappear into the wilderness and are never seen again. "No name" drowns herself in the family's well.

             In both stories the setting contributes greatly to the action. Desiree lives on a plantation where slaves are kept as property and are not paid for their labor. Slavery was a system in which it was all right for the master to impregnate his female slaves in order to produce more slaves (for free, he didn't have to buy them), but it was not all right for him to marry a black woman or for his legitimate heirs to be black because that would elevate blacks socially, and slavery depended on the control and domination of one race over another. Patriarchy is more than the relationship between men and women. It is a system that organizes the entire world around domination, control, and competition. The Chinese village where "No Name" lives is a superstitious place where people depend on "the gods" to favor their crops and their fertility. If a man and woman displease the gods by breaking the rules, then some sort of sacrifice must be made to appease them. Who they sacrifice shows the difference in value they place on males and females. Plus, it's a system of control devised by men. They are not going to sacrifice themselves.

             Girls are socialized to be quiet, docile, and conforming. Desiree and No Name, the main characters in the two stories are both women who have been successfully socialized into patriarchy. They cooperate with the patriarchal system. Indeed, like most women, they take it for granted and are probably unconscious of their own oppression.