Scannery And Deceit In Brian Redfield's Book Passing

“Sometimes it's not the people who change, it's the mask that falls off”. The use of chicanery and deceit to obtain a desire or a screen of protection is a particularly common habit of a large number of the human population, using it to escape consequences that would have resulted if the truth of their actions or feelings were to be discovered. The fear of being reprimanded and punished for something which is seen as unacceptable in society has lead to many people concealing their true selves thoroughly, some of them to the extent that they ended up deceiving themselves, believing they weren't dissimulating anyone, not even themselves. A single word can be used to describe all this: Passing. One blending so much into a society that’s not theirs so much that they end up being part of it, tossing aside who they really are, an action that cannot be blamed on those escaping racism and homophobia. This can be said for both Irene and Clare, who are the main focus of the book passing. Not only had society forced them to ‘pass’, but it had also caused one of them to fall into misunderstanding and confusion.

Irene Redfield, the wife of Brian Redfield and the mother of Ted and Junior, had, for her entire life, believed she was straight and had no sexual desire for …show more content…
In fact, throughout the book, they (Irene and Brian) never sat down and had a good discussion about life; their conversations would regularly end with either an argument or snide remarks to shut the other up.I is possible to draw a connection between this story and The death of a salesman. Both husbands in the story, Brian and Willy loman, had a dream to travel elsewhere and live there, and both were stopped by their wives Irene and Linda respectively. This is why, in both stories, they seemed dissatisfied with the direction life was going for