Passing and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao place an emphasis on physical features. Although both novels take place in different times and settings, both novels are creating and representing women as exotic sexualized objects because of their gender and race.
Larsen and Diaz’s emphasis on the blackness of female characters demonstrates the timelessness of the importance of skin color.
Irene’s thoughts when she sees Clare: “Did that woman, could that woman, somehow know that here before her very eyes on the roof of the Drayton sat a Negro?” (Larsen 16).
This is the first mention of color in the novel. This first mention of being black highlights the importance of physical appearances for Clare and Irene. They are in a 1920s, segregated and racist, Chicago. The threat of being recognized …show more content…
It is the only visual and physical marker of her “blackness” which stands out against the heavy contrast with her “ivory of her skin.” It is this darkness that intrigues Irene. She begins to view her black eyes as something exotic. She continually observes Clare to, unconsciously, decode her identity, specifically her heritage.
Landry simply describes that, “Through fixation on Clare 's eyes, Irene remembers consciously the link between Clare 's eyes and her black grandmother, signifying her desire for a sign, a text, that will lead her back to African-American ancestry” (Landry 41).
Thus, the allure to Clare’s eyes is revealing a hidden desire in Irene to be more connected to her African-American culture. Clare’s black eyes are the link to that heritage. Essentially, it is the physical features that tell you about a person: their history and heritage.
Onlookers thoughts of Beli at the nightclub include: “La negra está encendida...Everybody mistook her for a bailarina cubana from one of the shows and couldn’t believe that she was dominicana like them. It can’t be, no lo pareces, etc., etc” (Diaz
Larsen and Diaz’s emphasis on the blackness of female characters demonstrates the timelessness of the importance of skin color.
Irene’s thoughts when she sees Clare: “Did that woman, could that woman, somehow know that here before her very eyes on the roof of the Drayton sat a Negro?” (Larsen 16).
This is the first mention of color in the novel. This first mention of being black highlights the importance of physical appearances for Clare and Irene. They are in a 1920s, segregated and racist, Chicago. The threat of being recognized …show more content…
It is the only visual and physical marker of her “blackness” which stands out against the heavy contrast with her “ivory of her skin.” It is this darkness that intrigues Irene. She begins to view her black eyes as something exotic. She continually observes Clare to, unconsciously, decode her identity, specifically her heritage.
Landry simply describes that, “Through fixation on Clare 's eyes, Irene remembers consciously the link between Clare 's eyes and her black grandmother, signifying her desire for a sign, a text, that will lead her back to African-American ancestry” (Landry 41).
Thus, the allure to Clare’s eyes is revealing a hidden desire in Irene to be more connected to her African-American culture. Clare’s black eyes are the link to that heritage. Essentially, it is the physical features that tell you about a person: their history and heritage.
Onlookers thoughts of Beli at the nightclub include: “La negra está encendida...Everybody mistook her for a bailarina cubana from one of the shows and couldn’t believe that she was dominicana like them. It can’t be, no lo pareces, etc., etc” (Diaz