Passing By Nella Larsen Analysis

The main plot of “Passing” focuses on two light-skinned black women, Irene Redfield and her old time friend Clare Kendry. Both women can “pass” as white women. Irene who is married to a successful African-American doctor, passes only when it is

Women are seen simply as mothers and housekeepers. It is very clear that Audre’s family does not agree with societal standards and they are shunned because of their disagreement. During the novel, one incident in Chapter 25 really explained how black homosexual women were treated in America. In this chapter, Audre’s roommate Rhea leaves New York, without a word to Audre. She moves to Chicago and receives a new job. Later on, Audre discovers the reason why Rhea left. Rhea left Audre, New York, and her work because she was reported to be living in a house with a black homosexual. It's heartbreaking to know that a woman must leave everything behind when her sexuality is unveiled. The incident stresses that women must have a sexual relationship with just men. It also shows the reader how racism and homosexuality are seen in America.

Passing is delivered mainly from the perspective of an african american woman named Irene Redfield. Although Irene is the main protagonist of the novel, her narration of the story gives a subjective point of view, thus, making her an unreliable narrator. Irene has manifested to intensify her jealousy and anger with Claire over time as Clare has been caught up with a rumor of an affair between Irene’s husband, Brian, hence giving a one point perspective of the story.

Passing tells a story about Clare Kendry, a light skinned mulato woman who lived with her white aunts and passed as white. Clare then married a to a rich white man named Jack Bellew and never told him about her African ancestry. This story is told from Irene Redfield’s first point of view. Irene Redfield was a long friend of Clare who also was a light skinned mulatto. In contrast of Clare, Irene lived as a proud African American woman who married to a successful black man named Brian and lived on Harlem.

One’s lips are more revealing than one’s words. Words, either spoken or written by the individual, disclose a great deal about the person to others. However, these messages can be limited and inaccurate depending on the societal norms and the extent the individual wants to reveal. Due to the constraints on words, raw physical features provide an alternative insight on an individual’s mindset. These physical features, including the eyes, nose, and lips, work in conjunction to convey a message to those who look hard enough. Nevertheless, each of these features can also work independently to expose aspects of a person’s life. In Passing, Nella Larsen heavily utilizes facial features as objects to tell the story of race and identity. In particular,

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

Nella Larsen’s novel, Passing, embodies the cultural and social dimension of 1920's America. America in the 1920s was a culture mostly dominated by prosperity. The 1920s was also the beginning of the most important movement concerning African Americans. One of the most profound contributors to the Harlem Renaissance was Nella Larsen. Larsen's novel is about two light skinned African American women who pass as white.

Irene and Brian’s marriage symbolized the different roles of women and men in their home. Although she told Clare that she had all the things she wanted and that did not need to ‘pass’ as white, Irene still struggled with her marriage and the control

Nella Larsen’s Passing challenges the traditional ideology of ethnic, racial, and gender integrity, transforming the concept of an “acceptable”- definition of identity, which both individuals and society can appreciate. By developing exceptionally round characters whom are unstable and volatile, Larsen builds monologues to display how easy it is to lose one’s identity. Clare Kendry, challenges the stereotypes, society has ascribed to her. Leaving her in a limbo for identity white-or-black, however, she never has the chance to align to a particular identity because of her mysterious death, while Irene Redfield, becomes obsessed and envious of Clare, destroying her own sense of self by committing psychological suicide, in terms of assimilation

Irene hides her race by passing in ways that seem at first benign such as sitting in a white upper class restaurant The Drayton (Larsen, 13). As she sits, not at all uncomfortable in her surroundings, she slowly becomes transfixed with a beauty in the room who draws the attention of everyone around her. This was Clare Kendry, a foil to Irene’s careful management of her life. What the introduction of Clare and her manner of passing bring to light is that Irene passes not just for convenience but also for the power of the act. By being someone of color in a place that looks down on it, she feels in control. Clare Kendry is the complete opposite of this philosophy of calculated risk, flaunting herself at anyone who passes by.

     In Nella Larsen’s Passing, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry show us a great deal about race and sexuality in the 1920s. Both are extremely light-skinned women of African-American descent. However similar they appear to be, their views on race, a very controversial issue at the time, differ significantly. Clare chooses to use her physical appearance as an advantage in America’s racist and sexist society, leaving behind everything that connects her to her African-American identity. She presents herself as an object of sexual desire, flaunting herself to gain attention. Irene is practically the opposite, deciding that she wants to remain with the label of being black. She is subtle with her

Lastly the dependence of men plays an extremely large role in this book. Williams uses Blanche’s and Stella’s dependence on men to expose and critique the treatment of women during the transition from the old to the new South. Both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness, and they depend on men for both their sustenance and their self-image. Blanche recognizes that Stella could be happier without her physically abusive husband, Stanley. Yet, the alternative Blanche

According to the Introduction of Passing Penguin Edition the term passing can be defined as “the movement of a person who is legally or socially designated black into a white racial category or white social identity” (viii). In the novel Passing by Nella Larsen, readers can see passing not only as a racial activity but also as one related to sexuality. The main character Irene Redfield is passing as straight woman that ends up killing Clare Kendry, the woman she seems to be in love with. On the surface, Irene’s motivation to kill Clare is the possible affair between Clare and Bryan but in fact it is more than that. Irene’s unconscious knows that the only way to keep her lesbianism repressed is by maintaining a

The Harlem Renaissance was a turning point for many African Americans. A vast amount of literature was created specifically for this group during this era. It was a period when the African American "was in vogue" and "white thinkers and writers were devoting a considerable amount of attention" to them (Taylor 91, 90). For the first time, African Americans were being told that it was okay to be proud of who they were. This new consciousness and self-awareness was prominent in many works of literate, but several writers began exploring the darker side of this movement with literature that concentrated on the negative aspects of race relations in America. Nella Larsen's novel Passing concentrates on this

Clare Kendry in Larsen’s Passing, is a very complex character. She is an African American woman, who is “passing” as a white Caucasian. It all started when her Dad died when she was little, and was taken to her white aunts. Her aunts treated her like she was the help, so this made her want to be wealthy when she is older. Irene is her childhood friend, who saw Clare go through her tough times. They grew apart for a while, but met up in Chicago a couple of years ago. Clare has made herself an outsider through her actions. She is an outsider because she tries to pass as a Caucasian, uses her friends for her own benefit, and secretly wants to get back to her cultural roots.