Nella Larsen Passing

In Passing, Nella Larsen’s characters’ Clare and Irene struggle to disentangle themselves from their self inflicted crises and conflate their ontological as well as cultural identities. Larsen employs Clare Kendry to personify the consequences of disconnecting from one's true sense of self. Larsen utilizes the age old cautionary tale to confirm that extricating oneself from predetermined conventional roles in society engenders major conflict, which possesses the potential for catastrophic results. Clare’s choice to live in a manner antithetical to her characters’ true self manifests itself with cognitive dissonance exacerbated by the juxtaposition of the racial bias and the intimacy of marriage and friendship which culminates in her ultimate …show more content…
Their light skin and faint features allow for them to create dichotomous identities to easily “pass” between both worlds; however, the similarity between the two women ends there. Irene derives only temporary benefits from concealing her heritage at opportune times while Clare’s process of acculturation, integration and identity formation into the dominant white society was absolute. Clare chose the path of an unadulterated rejection of her black identity as well as her designated role within its correlating black society for one reason. Clare explains her choice as, "of course, I was determined to get away, to be a person and not…a daughter of the indiscreet Ham.” (Larsen 26). Clare’s fractured identity began at the vulnerable age of sixteen when most teenage girls are figuring out who they are as individuals. Clare was ripped from her childhood home in black Harlem, ripped from her neighborhood, her friends and her past. Her aunts made her turn her back on her biracial heritage and take on a chastely white persona while at the same time shaming her behind closed doors and working her like a slave for fear that her black genes would make her lazy in the years to …show more content…
Despite her previous abandon, Clare was able to easily fit in with her fellow blacks during visits. For then Clare would “descend to the kitchen and with—to Irene—an exasperating childlike lack of perception, spend her visit in talk and merriment with Zulena and Sadie,” Irene's black servants (Larsen 79). Clare illustrates a cultural fluidity to her opposing dichotomies. So flawless is her performance that Clare is even able to delude her racist husband, John Bellew. John declared, “' Nig. Oh, no, Nig, nothing like that with me. I know you’re no nigger, so it’s all right…I draw the line at that. No niggers in my family. Never have been and never will be'”(Larsen 40). Despite his repugnant nickname for her, he truly has not a clue that his family tree became tainted with the birth of their daughter Margery. Bellew's character epitomizes the patriarchal, racist society to which Clare has chosen to assimilate at the expense of her true identity. Irene is furious at his rant and is forced to bite her lip to contain her anger; however, Clare just smiles as though they were discussing the weather. This disassociation from any and all emotions is further evidence of her fractured