Analysis Of Nella Larson's Passing

My Title Here Nella Larson, the author of Passing, exposes a struggle of racial identity and how easy it is to lose one’s sense of self. The question about how a person chooses to define their race is never easily answered. Nella Larson creates the characters, Clare and Irene, who have the ability to blur the lines between white and black communities. This act of passing as white for both Clare and Irene shows that race is a social construction. In this paper I argue that the novel Passing demonstrates a momentary logic for passing as well as an illustration of its personal and social restrictions. First, I will look at Clare’s commitment to passing as white in contrast to her desire to reconnect with her black roots. Next, I will consider

In my opinion this curiosity with the black community that Clare has stems even deeper due to her friends reactions on the Drayton rooftop. Clare has no such allegiance to the black community and would naturally wonder why her friends would defend such an oppressed race. For Clare her curiosity comes from the unknown not from her ancestral ties to her race. Upon learning about a dance that Irene is hosting through the Urban Welfare League her response is “It might be amusing” and she wants to go (Larsen, 106). It seems as if Clare is participating in the othering of the black community with her curiosity. It is so ironic that she is participating in the oppression of blacks by her othering and yet she is black herself. As a result Clare demonstrates that she doesn’t have any ties to her own

Irene made the statement that her and Clare are “strangers even in their racial consciousness” (Larsen, 93). How Clare can give up her ancestral roots without hesitation really confuses Irene. Clare has the ability to pass through both white and black worlds but this ability makes her appear as if she is lost. She doesn’t seem like she has the ability to identify with being black or white. This inability to have a concrete identity in either racial community shows she “cared nothing for the race. She only belonged to it” (Larsen, 76). Clare’s inability to be racially secure forces Irene to conclude that race is a “means to an end” for Clare. As a result Irene seems to be more secure with her identity while Clare is using race for personal gain and not as an indication of identity. We see this in Clare’s desire to be a part of the black community whenever she wants but she also still wants the ability to maintain her life in the white community as well. Irene’s approach to race is the complete opposite of Clare. She is loyal to her race and culture. She does not deny her race in public nor does she make the decision to pass without it being necessary. Despite Clare’s inability to commit to a race and Irene’s racial loyalty, race still controls their lives and the choices they