Irene simply becomes worried that the woman staring at her will realize she is a Negro (Larsen 7). When the word “passing” is first introduced on page 15, the word is used to show Irene’s curiosity about passing as if she never takes part in the act (Larsen), but the fact that she can pass may explain why she clings so hard to her black identity. The reader is told that “never, when she was alone, had they even remotely seemed to suspect she was a Negro” (Larsen 8). If Irene can only be identified as black when surrounded by other black people, Irene would most likely desire to stay near people of her race. This desire can explain her fondness for her husband’s skin color shown when she comments how Brian’s would be “ordinary looking” if it were not for “the beauty of his skin” (Larsen 40). Irene fails to mention the fact that she was passing at Drayton because she could not be blamed for the fact that the white people could not tell the difference. Because she thinks of herself
Irene simply becomes worried that the woman staring at her will realize she is a Negro (Larsen 7). When the word “passing” is first introduced on page 15, the word is used to show Irene’s curiosity about passing as if she never takes part in the act (Larsen), but the fact that she can pass may explain why she clings so hard to her black identity. The reader is told that “never, when she was alone, had they even remotely seemed to suspect she was a Negro” (Larsen 8). If Irene can only be identified as black when surrounded by other black people, Irene would most likely desire to stay near people of her race. This desire can explain her fondness for her husband’s skin color shown when she comments how Brian’s would be “ordinary looking” if it were not for “the beauty of his skin” (Larsen 40). Irene fails to mention the fact that she was passing at Drayton because she could not be blamed for the fact that the white people could not tell the difference. Because she thinks of herself