On the surface, it seems that Nella Larsen’s Passing is about Irene Redfield’s friend Clare who is Black but has decided to pass for white. The entire story is explicitly centered on the idea of Clare being light enough in complexion that whites are unable to tell that she is Black, especially since they do not know her true background. In order to live among whites, Clare must never strongly advocate for the rights or humanity of Blacks, and she must not be seen too much in public with Blacks, lest her husband catch on to her truth. However, I submit that Passing has an even deeper narrative. Clare’s case is an easy and obvious example of passing; she is using her appearance and skin tone to enjoy the benefits that come with being white. But Irene is also passing, in a sense. Her wealth allows her to enjoy things that are stereotypically “white.” This would mean that Nella Larsen meant An example of this is when white, wealthy families of the early 1900s had Black servants in their homes, physically present, but constantly treated like objects instead of people. Larsen sets up this same narrative in Passing. In the passages from page 94 to 97 in which Zulena appears, her status within the Redfield house is made clear by the way she is treated by Brian and Irene. When she first enters the dining room, she brings grapefruit to the married couple, but they both fail to acknowledge her presence (94). She is subjected to similar treatment when she later brings them toast on page 97. In each instance, she was expected to serve them in complete silence. Not once is it mentioned that Brian or Irene even looked in her direction. They also continued to converse in front of her as if she truly was not in the
The work, the Souls of Black Folk explains the problem of color-line in the twentieth century. Examining the time following the civil war the author, W.E.B. Dubois, explains the African American experience of living behind the “veil”. To fully explain the experience of living behind the veil, he provides the reader with situations that a black race experiences in reconstruction. This allowed the readers to metaphorically step into the veil with him. He accomplishes this with the use of “songs of sorrow” with were at the beginning of each chapter, and with the use of anecdotes.
To further show the injustice African Americans experience, African Americans and several other minority groups were barred from buying houses in desirable neighborhoods because African Americans, single white women, and elderly couples did not fit the ideal white middle class suburban family image (Haralovich, 76). The Hendersons are nicely dressed up for dinner―Alice is wearing a fancy dress and Harry is in a suit― in the pleasantly decorated dining room. Meanwhile, Beulah and Bill are less put together and less perfect; they are depicted eating in the plain kitchen wearing ordinary clothes. In addition, this recreates the slave and slave owner relationship from the Antebellum period. Indirectly supporting segregation, this shows the discrimination African Americans faced despite the massive efforts by various organizations to fight for equality. Beulah will never be shown eating with the Hendersons because her role is to be the maid: she is their employee, not their friend. However, because she is the Mammy, she will never pose a threat to the father’s masculinity or the family’s authority over
I think Tate’s further interpretation of Passing as a story of jealousy, intrigue, and obsession is also very accurate. There are race issues that are brought up, in instances such as Irene worrying about being discovered as a black woman while having tea in the Drayton Hotel, and the language and attitude Clare’s husband has towards black people in general. However, I believe that much of the story is rooted in class issues, also. Clare and her husband Brian are wealthy, they get to travel across Europe, and their
The term "passing" is shorthand for a racial passing which means people of one race passing for another. Nella Larsen's Passing is the story about two light-skinned women, who both have African blood. Clare Kendry is one of them who chooses and succeeds at "passing" and Irene Redfield is one who doesn't. They drive into each other twelve years later in a restaurant and Clare invites Irene to the tea party. The tea party which appears in the beginning of the story plays an important role throughout of the story because Jack Bellew enters the story at that moment. Jack is the white man who has a strong revulsion to African-Americans. He marries Clare, without knowing her secret ancestry. Jack's statements at the tea party lead the main characters' transformation throughout the story and shape the ending as well.
As much as race does not matter, it does. Morrison leaves out the race of Twyla and Roberta to inadvertently expose the role of learned racism in the world of “Recitatif.” Upon entering St. Bonny’s, Twyla is placed in a room with a girl from a completely different race and assesses the situation, “And Mary, that’s my mother, she was right. Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny.” (Morrison 1). Twyla’s first observation of Roberta, her skin color, is immediately indicative of the environment she has lived in, as the basis for her racial
Through the novel Birdie Lee challenges herself to confront her own awareness of self, to understand her families blackness through the gaze of whiteness. Birdies physical appearance is known as a straight hair and pale child, which gave her an identity that is more closely to the whiteness within her family. Whenever she is in the presence of both her father and Cole, she often felt that she disappeared and becomes invisible. Cole existence “was the proof that his blackness hadn’t been completely blanched” (Senna 1998, p.56).
..., as an outsider, you can conclude why an individual has chosen to “pass.” With that being said, The Ex-Colored Man’s preference to “pass” was done in effort to place him in a safe living environment open to opportunity and enjoy the adventures it awards the “passer” with. Brooke Kroeger affirms that many people “have passed: for opportunity, safety, adventure, or some combination of the three,” which Johnson illustrates in the life of The Ex-Colored Man (Kroeger 7). It is captivating to question whether or not the reasons The Ex-Colored Man’s opted “pass” could have been attained in his life as a biracial mulatto or black male.
You notice this to be so because Mrs. Peters is struggling against what she is hearing the men say versus what she feels herself. When Mrs. Hale tells Mrs. Peters that she would hate for the men to be in her kitchen snooping around and criticizing, Mrs. Peters responds by saying "Of course it’s no more than their duty". This reflects to me a lady who has been so brain washed by the manly view of her time that she can’t even see the simple feelings that women feel for and between each other.
Because of the laws against colored people, Rosaleen, as a black woman, lives with constraints in her life. For example, she cannot live in a house with white people (Kidd, p.8), she cannot represent Lily at the charm school (Kidd, p.19), or even travel in a car with white people (Kidd, p.76). The media is also influenced by racism, and constantly shows news about segregation such as the case of Martin Luther King, who is arrested because he wants to eat in a restaurant (Kidd, p.35), the “man in Mississippi was killed for registering to vote” (Kidd, p.44), and the motel in Jackson, that closes, because the owners don’t want to rent rooms to black people (Kidd, p.99).... ... middle of paper ...
If you take note of something detrimental is bound to happen to an individual, would you act on it? Every person has experienced the “bystander effect” at least once in their lifetime, making decisions on whether or not is it worth it to get involved in other people’s business. In the story entitled Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez, it becomes known to everyone in town, except the victim himself, Santiago Nasar, that there’s going to be a murder taking place. However, no one tries to intervene with the Vicario brothers, who wants retribution for their sister’s honor. Santiago’s death could’ve been prevented by Colonel Lázaro Aponte, but he didn’t comprehend the matter to be important, and by Davina Flor since she was
In the second section of Nella Larsen’s Passing, the reader sees Irene’s discontent for Clare grow stronger by the more time she spends with Clare. Throughout the first section of the novel, Irene wants to separate herself from Clare, but she keeps getting pulled back in by her charm. Throughout the second section, the same thing is happening, but it happens much more rapidly and Irene grows more passionate about removing Clare from her life more than in the first second. The ambiguity of the novel increases during the second half considering a potential affair between Clare and Brian, Clare’s involvement in the Redfield’s lives and Harlem community, and Clare’s death. It is up to interpretation whether Clare and Brian had an affair based on the ambiguity of the text, but the text is fairly clear in insisting that Irene felt that Clare and Brian could be having an affair.
Although death seems to be a theme for many literary poems, it also appears to be the most difficult to express clearly. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “death” as, “A permanent cessation of all vital function: end of life.” While this definition sounds simple enough, a writer’s definition goes way beyond the literal meaning. Edwin Arlington Robinson and Robert Frost are just two examples of poetic writers who have used death successfully as the main theme of their works. Robinson, in the poem “Richard Cory,” and Frost in his poem, “Home Burial,” present death in different ways in order to invoke different feelings and emotions from their readers.
In the early 1900’s, around the time the story takes place; women were expected to be care takers of the home, to be clean, well dressed and mannered. All of these
In the book, the readers see the wall between black and white people during the movement. An example is a reaction to Fern’s doll which is white, while Fern, however, is black. On pg.65, it reads, “‘Li’l Sis, are you a white girl or a black girl?’ Fern said, ‘I’m a colored girl.’ He didn’t like the sound of a colored girl,’ He said, ‘Black girl.’ Fern said, ‘Colored.’ ‘Black girl.”
In the play, “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark”, the two main characters, Vera Stark and Anna Mae play a significate role in the plays main theme of racial discrimination. The choice they made to decide to lie about their race came from the fact that racial discrimination was an issue and they knew they wouldn’t be looked at for a major role in a play. I found this to be very sad that they couldn’t be themselves and had to lie about who they truly are. This play also brings to light the issue that many people face in today’s society of conforming to society’s image of being the perfect American.