Passing. What is Passing? Passing is defined as when a person classified of a racial group is accepted into another different racial group. Nella Larsen’s novel “Passing” touches on this action between two of the characters Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield. Clare passes as a Caucasian woman and is married to a man John Bellew, a racist and inconsiderate man. John does not know of Clare’s true linage and this becomes apparent when he meets Irene. He speaks ill of African Americans in her presences and even refers to Clare as Nig. Nig refers to a derogatory nickname meaning N----r because Clare’s skin is darkening. Irene is married to Doctor Brian Redfield who wishes to go to Brazil. Throughout the novel we see the resentment and anger Irene holds
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Irene and John are standing around Clare when she falls to her death from a window. The ending is ambiguous as it is not revealed if she was pushed by Clare or John who neither can remember the events or if Clare committed suicide. Nella Larsen shows racial passing in women of color lives and how it affects their necessity to live.
The time period of Passing is the 1920s and during this historical time there were many race riots and the great migration to cities such as New York, Chicago and Detroit. Two of the two cities New York and Chicago are the settings for “Passing”. The beginning of the novel Irene is visiting home in Chicago and goes to the Drayton Hotel to get a drink on the rooftop. Despite the Great Migration there is a clear segregation and racial hatred amongst the colored people and the Caucasians. “So-called ‘Americanization’ organizations were hell-bent on holding people to strict racial categories and extending segregation’s legal and economic reach by making all movement across …show more content…
Not only are they women but they are mothers, mothers to children that are colored. By passing Clare has achieved a level of security and comfort for her daughter. It is one of the subjects that are brought up in a conversation between Gertrude and Irene after meeting Clare’s husband. “Still, I imagine she’s pretty safe. They don’t live here, you know. And there’s a child. That’s a certain security” (Larsen 43). Irene and Gertrude speak about Clare’s hidden secret of being Black after meeting Clare’s husband for the first time. They understand that her passing is giving her a lifestyle of security and not to worry about poverty. By passing Clare has secured herself to be taken care of and even her children to be taken care of. However by passing she is also subjecting herself to her husband’s racial views without the direct harm. John speaks ill of colored people especially Blacks throughout the story. By giving Clare the derogatory nickname “Nig” is one of the ways we see his views. This racial hatred plays a part in Clare’s motherhood. Her children do not know of their African American heritage. Clare and Irene have a talk about Clare’s daughter not knowing her true history and the responsibility of being a mother. The duty of a mother is to protect a child no matter the situation. Clare says that being a mother is the cruelest thing in the world. She doesn’t explain by what she means but one can interpret that she means that it’s
Irene and John are standing around Clare when she falls to her death from a window. The ending is ambiguous as it is not revealed if she was pushed by Clare or John who neither can remember the events or if Clare committed suicide. Nella Larsen shows racial passing in women of color lives and how it affects their necessity to live.
The time period of Passing is the 1920s and during this historical time there were many race riots and the great migration to cities such as New York, Chicago and Detroit. Two of the two cities New York and Chicago are the settings for “Passing”. The beginning of the novel Irene is visiting home in Chicago and goes to the Drayton Hotel to get a drink on the rooftop. Despite the Great Migration there is a clear segregation and racial hatred amongst the colored people and the Caucasians. “So-called ‘Americanization’ organizations were hell-bent on holding people to strict racial categories and extending segregation’s legal and economic reach by making all movement across …show more content…
Not only are they women but they are mothers, mothers to children that are colored. By passing Clare has achieved a level of security and comfort for her daughter. It is one of the subjects that are brought up in a conversation between Gertrude and Irene after meeting Clare’s husband. “Still, I imagine she’s pretty safe. They don’t live here, you know. And there’s a child. That’s a certain security” (Larsen 43). Irene and Gertrude speak about Clare’s hidden secret of being Black after meeting Clare’s husband for the first time. They understand that her passing is giving her a lifestyle of security and not to worry about poverty. By passing Clare has secured herself to be taken care of and even her children to be taken care of. However by passing she is also subjecting herself to her husband’s racial views without the direct harm. John speaks ill of colored people especially Blacks throughout the story. By giving Clare the derogatory nickname “Nig” is one of the ways we see his views. This racial hatred plays a part in Clare’s motherhood. Her children do not know of their African American heritage. Clare and Irene have a talk about Clare’s daughter not knowing her true history and the responsibility of being a mother. The duty of a mother is to protect a child no matter the situation. Clare says that being a mother is the cruelest thing in the world. She doesn’t explain by what she means but one can interpret that she means that it’s