Passing By Nella La Larsen

“Passing,” by Nella Larsen is a novel all about pretending to be something that you are not. It is about giving everyone the impression that everything is in order when in reality everything is falling apart. Passing in this novel refers to the ability of a person to be classified as one thing, normally a social group, while belonging to a different group. Passing is usually done to gain class or acceptance by groups other than one’s own. The primary focus of the novel is on racial passing which is the ability to look white and belong to a white group when in reality the person is an African-American in order to gain privileges that were unavailable to them. Although racial passing is the main focus, another major theme in this novel is sexual passing and identity.

Passing seems like a fictional action, yet we still approve of it in today’s society. In the novel, “Passing” Nella Larsen speaks on how passing may not be all as cool as it may seem. How race seems to be something you choose, but with that multiple consequences, like hiding your race from your own husband. “That no one is ever completely happy, or free, or safe (Larsen 101). Clare explaining how being able to pass has challenges and problems. She felt trapped, having to be a race that it not your’s and struggle to know where you belong. In addition, as Clare passes as white, it is not as glamorous or fun as it seems, she just wanted to find her place. Being able to pass makes it difficult to choose and be happy. You have to pick one and will

Passing, which was written by Nella Larsen, revolves around the life of Irene Redfield and her friend (or maybe acquaintance is a better word for their relationship) Clare Kendry. Irene has a chance meeting with her childhood friend, Clare, and this causes Clare to want to reconnect with her old life. Clare is “passing” as white despite her black ethnic heritage and this irritates Irene who could also pass for white. Clare starts to come around Irene’s home and community, something Irene is not fond of.

During the childhood of “the Narrator,” he experiences mixed reactions to the notion of “passing” one’s identity. The Narrator’s mother, having never told the young boy of his African-American blood, forces the Narrator to unintentionally pass as a young, “perfect little aristocrat” (7). The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man moves quickly to introduce newfound discoveries made by the Narrator. For example, at this point in his life, he is unable to comprehend why “Shiny,” the best student, is seen as inferior due to the color of his skin. The Narrator does not understand such complex ideologies saying, “he was in some way looked down upon” (14). Here, Johnson’s use of the metaphor of passing is more of an indictment on the Narrator’s ignorance when it comes to race. A notable encounter with passing

This shows the different perspectives people of the same race have on society, and how contrasting Clare's identity is compared to Irene. Irene is also concerned for Clare saying that Clare did not run that strain of black blood, implying that Clare has difficulty understanding her race and culture, and disconnects herself from it in order to get certain advantages in society. Nella Larsen's novel, Passing serves as a lens into the ideas of identity shifts, and certain expectations of society, all due to

Thus, he is convinced “passing” for a member of the white society would safeguard him from a life of uncertainty and violence. He is ashamed to be “indentified with a people [the black race] that would with impunity be treated worse than animals,” affirming his want to be treated as a white person to omit any violence being inflicted onto himself (Johnson 101). This observation coerces the narrator to ultimately decide to “pass” to the white society. While he declares he will neither “disclaim the black race nor claim the white race” but he would change (Johnson 101). He will “let the world take [him] for what it would,” because he refuses to go about life amidst a “label of inferiority pasted across [his] forehead,” which would occur should he claim the black race (Johnson 101). He recognizes that by intentionally “passing” he will keep himself out of harm’s way and safe from having such treatment being inflicted upon himself.

Hurston makes a prominent statement that she was not born colored; she became colored over the course of her life due to her experiences. She places emphasis on the distinction between her “colored” self and her “unlabeled” self by making it clear to that reader that race is learned, not innate. Hurston’s essay includes various situations that made her aware of her race due to the racist attitudes she experienced. Growing up she was “everybody’s Zora,” which implies that she viewed herself no different than her white counterpart (Hurston). “During this period, white people differed from colored to me only in that they rode through town and never lived there” (Hurston). However, this naïve viewpoint changes when Hurston informs the reader that “It seemed that I had suffered a sea change. I was not Zora of Orange County anymore, I was now a little-colored girl. I found it out in certain ways. In my heart as well as in the mirror, I became a fast

Race plays a large role in who and how we define ourselves. The question time and time again asked is who hold the key in deciding who do someone allow to define along with the limitations of such assumptions us and can the limitations how society views us hold the black individual(s) back. In this response I will focus on the idea of “Racism and its effects on individual experience”. Throughout the novel Wright tries to come to terms with the idea to come to terms with individual identity, conformity/rebellion, and revaluation of the self.

Nella Larsen’s Passing explores the dynamics of privilege within a purely African American context. Instead of focusing on the privilege of White Americans, which is obvious and self-evident, Nella Larsen focuses on the privilege of a certain social class of African Americans: the upper class Harlem socialites. This is done through Irene, who embodies this form of privilege. In fact, Irene’s obsession with security is only possible through her privilege. She also rejects passing in superficial terms without considering why anyone in a less privileged position then her would utilize this strategy in a racist America. Her disapproval of Clare is rooted in Irene’s fear of Clare disrupting the status quo. Passing is able to form a complicated

What does it take for a person to feel comfortable within her own skin? Human beings have struggled with the concept of identity for centuries and for good reason. Who we are as people becomes heavily reliant on what society prefers in a person’s character as well as an inkling feeling of how everyone would prefer to express herself. Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, focuses on Janie Crawford’s life as a fair-skinned black woman in the southern United States within the early 1900s. In more ways than one, Janie provides a definitive example of how people struggle with identity within society, and just how much it takes for a person to feel fulfilled with who she has become. Whether through the learning trials of three

Is it something physical, mental, or both? Within Larsen’s novel, Irene Redfield, one of the protagonists, is successfully able to “pass” as Caucasian, regardless of her black ethnicity.

People in education can learn more about the important piece in shaping a person’s ethnic identity by examining Ms. Williams tone in the passage. According to the text Ms. Williams states that race is a very big part of her life. Throughout the paragraphs Ms. Williams explains that, “…I’ve always thought of myself as just plain black” (Williams pg.11). To put it another way, Ms. Williams is explaining that her race is more than just the one category she identified herself as. Throughout the passage, Ms. Williams also learns more about racial judgement between races, judgement which also happens between her family and her neighbors, which are white.

Clare Kendry was the character that most ruthlessly pushes her way over the color-line. Clare was described as “so daring, so lovely, and so ‘having’” (Larsen, 43). “There had been, even in those days, nothing sacrificial in Clare Kendry’s idea of life, no allegiance beyond her own immediate desire” (10). “Clare Kendry cared nothing for the race. She only belonged to it” (52). She even considered herself a “deserter” of the race because of her life of passing (37).Clare got what she wanted, regardless of the cost to herself or to others. While telling Irene about her experience with passing, Clare explained that, “It’s such a frightfully easy thing to do. If one’s the type, all that’s needed is a little nerve” (25). She made clear that “Nothing could have been easier” (27) and that “It’s even worth the price” (28). Later in the novel however she changed her tone and started to tell the horrors of passing. She told Irene, “You’re free. You’re happy. And…safe” (67). She knew that if she were to be caught, she would be in real trouble. She would lose her daughter Margery, her marriage, and all of the physical comforts in life that she had gained from passing. The readers are also reminded that during that time in history, capital punishment was still used. Clare’s husband was so full of hatred for black

Due this unique circumstance, the narrator begins to question his path of life and struggles with what to make of himself as well as his future. It is clear that this unknowing of his roots has set an impact on the narrator. The narrator describes it as “the miracle of my transition from one world into another; for I indeed pass into another world” (Johnson 9). How society viewed him- whether as a white male or black male- determined the fate of his future and what the outcomes could possibly be if he were to choose either racial identities. Kathleen Pfeiffer, English professor and journal article author of “Individualism, Success, and American Identity in The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man” discusses how the narrator embodies the “paradox of race and color” (Pfeiffer 403) due to his mulatto identity. As stated previously, the author questions his life paths and decisions due to being biracial. Pfeiffer renounces his blackness as either an “’authentic identity’- in favor of whiteness, an ‘opportunistic one’” (Pfeiffer 403). The narrator has yet to decide whether or not to embrace his blackness or take advantageous of his white colored skin in order to possess such opportunities and rights that black people lacked in the past. This flip flop between races pushes the narrator into a tight spot. Pfeiffer questions whether the

Although Irene feels that there is "nothing sacrificial in Clare's idea of life, no allegiance beyond her own immediate desire," it is apparent that Clare's desire to return to her African American race is honest, even if the motives seem rather one-sided (Larsen 144). Irene considers Clare to be "selfish, cold and hard" (Larsen 144). Irene also feels that Clare does not have "even in the slightest artistic or sociological interest in the race that some members of other races displayed…[She] cared nothing of the race, she only belonged to it" (Larsen 182). This may be true, but it does not diminish Clare's own pain at having to deny her African American heritage, and her desire to return to it. Irene represents a portion of society who feel that people who pass must have a morally acceptable reason to return to their African American roots such as a desire to rebel against a white society that has forced them into the role of a white person. Just because Clare feels "no permanent allegiance to either the black or white worlds or any of the classic anguish of the tragic mulatto" does not mean that she is not a tragic mulatto (Washington 48). In her own way, "Clare Kendry belongs with that group of tragic mulattos…emerg[ing] as an individual, not as a stereotype" (Davis 98). Because she wants to return to her own race on her own terms illustrates her individuality in the face of the