Sui Sin Far and Nella Larsen frame their writings through documented historical realities: autobiographical in Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian, and a bias ‘remembrance’ from Irene, the main character in Passing. Since the authors’ writings are closely tied to personal experiences, it is in my perspective, a framework that gives us a perfect lens to assess the intricate selfhood of a Happa. As we analyze the detailed psych of Sui Sin Far and Irene, it appears to me that there is strife between their prescribed and authentic selves. In context, these two characters are presumed “white” by their acquaintances due to their predominantly white surroundings and appearance. To such a degree, Sui Sin Far and Irene are persistent in sorting through their ethnicity with bewilderment and uncertainty. I make this rapprochement, as I believe the characters meet in their determination to remain unbroken despite their contested identities.
Irene is completely independent of continuities. As she steps out of her household, her world is one that is not shared with her family. Although Brian, her husband, attends the parties she hosts, they belong in different realms and co-exist awkwardly in the same scenery, especially where Jack Bellew and other acquaintances of the sort over-rule social discussions. (quote). The latter demonstrates that during this party, Irene hardly gives a thought to her husband or acknowledges or even introduces him, as it was accustomed (such as when Clare introduces her husband to her friends). She is mostly self-involved in getting approval from Jack Bellew as to impress him with her opinions. Irene also refuses to come to terms with race and the history that it tells. (quote). For Irene none of that kind...
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...to her sanity and lucidity. Irene’s senses are heightened and she is more self-aware of her existence due to the daily interference of Clare in Irene’s life. This identity split is re-directed into the three entities: race, class and gender (all representative of Clare) calls for a need for survival dangerously approaching the fatal borderline. By acknowledging Clare, and her success of veiling her fraud actions (such as passing) from her husband and higher society, Irene fails to stabilize herself and fails simultaneously to eradicate that nagging feeling of impermanency and her frail leverage upon society. As a matter of fact, there are no guarantees for Irene in higher society. Undeniably Irene Redfield has become nothing but a very fragile and weak link, realizing only then, that the rift with her inner-self began with Clare.
Works Cited
Passing, Nella Larsen
She registered for work, and was given an identification card, and working papers. She was assigned work at a German run restaurant. She hated it. She left that job, when she found a job at a Polish run shop near her Aunt Helen’s house. Eventually the Nazi’s came and forced Irene and some others to work in an ammunition factory. After two weeks, she became weak and tired. One morning cadre officers came to inspect the workers. Irene’s hands were shaking as she tried to bundle ammunition. She ended up fainting. When she came to, A major handed her a cup of coffee. He offered her a job that he thought would be better for her. It was at a hotel. She would be working for Herr
Irene’s desire for Clare is revealed throughout the book, especially in the beginning when she is at the Drayton Hotel. She sees “an attractive-looking young woman…with those dark, almost black, eyes and that wide mouth like a scarlet flower against the ivory of her skin.” (p. 14) She is taken aback by Clare’s beauty, not fully understanding why she is so infatuated with the woman. Irene can’t help but obsess over her beauty, “the eyes that were magnificent! Dark, sometimes absolutely black, always luminous, and set in long, black lashes. Arresting eyes, slow and mesmeric, and with, for all their warmth, something withdrawn and secret about them.” (p. 29) However much Irene is attracted to Clare, she is somewhat disgusted by her confidence. She sees Clare’s “odd sort of smile…a shade too provocative for a waiter.” (p. 15) Irene, being more restrained in her sexuality, is somewhat of a hypocrite in this sense. She desires Clare in a physical way, yet hates her for her ability to use her beauty so well. This show...
She desperately wanted a voice and independence. Edna’s realization of her situation occurred progressively. It was a journey in which she slowly discovered what she was lacking emotionally. Edna’s first major disappointment in the novel was after her husband, Leonce Pontellier, lashed out at her and criticized her as a mother after she insisted her child was not sick. This sparked a realization in Edna that made here realize she was unhappy with her marriage. This was a triggering event in her self discovery. This event sparked a change in her behavior. She began disobeying her husband and she began interacting inappropriately with for a married woman. Edna increasingly flirted with Robert LeBrun and almost instantly became attracted to him. These feelings only grew with each interaction. Moreover, when it was revealed to Edna that Robert would be leaving for Mexico she was deeply hurt not only because he didn’t tell her, but she was also losing his company. Although Edna’s and Robert’s relationship may have only appeared as friendship to others, they both secretly desired a romantic relationship. Edna was not sure why she was feeling the way she was “She could only realize that she herself-her present self-was in some way different from the other self. That she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance of new conditions in herself that colored
It tells the story of a woman named Edna Pontellier, who of which, goes on a journey to try to find her identity in the world. In doing so, Mrs. Pontellier has to deal with a “...marriage…” with a demanding husband and a hectic agenda of trying to keep watch of her two young “...children…” (“Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening””). Outside of balancing these stressful everyday occurrences, Edna tries to calm herself by trying to take advice from her friends Adele Ratignolle and Robert Lebrun. Thereupon, in talking with Ratignolle, Edna is told to give in to “...life’s delirium…” of doing of what is expected of her as a wife and a mother (94). Unlike that of Mrs. Pontellier’s predicament, Adele has given into that of their civilization’s ideal outlook of being a woman who has completely immersed herself in that of the wellbeing of her family and of nothing else. Appalled by this response, Edna labels it as being a “...colorless [and]...blind contentment…” and then goes on to describe Adele as being brainwashed (93). Moreover, when she talks to Robert she also does not get the guidance she so desperately needs, and/or seeks. While Robert is less affected by that of their society's social normality of only caring about family, he still does not comprehend of why Mrs. Pontellier would want to be “...independent...” when she has a high standing by being that of a “...married woman with children…” (“Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening””/36). Upset by the fact that neither Mrs. Ratignolle or Mr. Lebrun could comprehend her desire of wanting to find herself, and of not following the typical lifestyle women adopted, Edna becomes confused and frustrated. Consequently, because of these two emotions that she now bares, they become her downfall at the end of the
Shostack's emic approach is commendable because readers get a sense of how the people themselves see the world around them. With the assumption that ones inculturation make one less capable of analyzing one's own society, many look to the interpretative views of a complete outsider who may present generalizations that ignores the values people attach to their actions and may inaccurately depict the true reasons behind their conduct. Nisa makes a fine informant because her stories provide many insights about her culture. Her stories coincide with the other women's stories,...
Lahiri, a second-generation immigrant, endures the difficulty of living in the middle of her hyphenated label “Indian-American”, whereas she will never fully feel Indian nor fully American, her identity is the combination of her attributes, everything in between.
She has a complex viewpoint on the idea of passing, allowing herself to “pass” when convenient but also resenting those who pass permanently and leave their black heritage behind. This struggle is present in her relationship with Clare because she is constantly suppressing self-reproach for continuing a friendship with a woman who challenges her core values and ideals. Her inner self-control is challenged when conversing with Clare’s husband, Jack Bellew, who vocally expresses his hatred for blacks. She is enraged throughout the entirety of this conversation but is “outwardly calm,” and “held by some dam of caution and allegiance to Clare,” (Page 41, Passing). Blatantly established here is the confusing racial allegiance Irene feels to Clare which demonstrates the author’s depiction of control manifest and racial identity as feelings of suffocation in both main characters, whether they are “passing” or not. Echoed throughout almost the entire novel is Irene’s constant fight to suppress emotions and remain calm on the outside throughout every encounter she has, whether it be with Clare, Clare’s husband, or even her own husband. Unlike Clare who is openly wild and seemingly uncaring, Irene is implemented as a stark contrast who consciously and successfully controls her
Irene notices the changes in her husband, especially, his attitude towards her and his sons. Irene mentions how it is the first time she has not been able to understand Brian’s expressions and what caused them, this leads Irene to assume there is an affair. The affair is ambiguous itself because it is not clearly stated, but Larsen hints at it, especially considering Clare’s daring and flirtatious nature.
The use of the Confederate cup symbolizes the complex ideas about gender and race. Irene can pass as white, while her husband Brian cannot, despite his white heritage. Irene and Brian are content with their lives, and do not feel the need to pass as white. Stuck in a gender role within her marriage, Irene needed to attach herself to a successful man. She created a good life for her kids with Brian. Brian wanted to go to South America, leaving behind the life Irene worked so hard for. Irene created her own American Dream, and the ideal life she thought she wanted. Irene also felt that she was losing Brian to Clare when she caught him staring at Clare at the party. The life she worked so hard creating as a black woman was threatened by Clare,
• AW’s work is deeply rooted in oral tradition; in the passing on of stories from generation to generation in the language of the people. To AW the language had a great importance. She uses the “Slave language”, which by others is seen as “not correct language”, but this is because of the effect she wants the reader to understand.
Perhaps one of the biggest issues foreigners will come upon is to maintain a strong identity within the temptations and traditions from other cultures. Novelist Frank Delaney’s image of the search for identity is one of the best, quoting that one must “understand and reconnect with our stories, the stories of the ancestors . . . to build our identities”. For one, to maintain a firm identity, elderly characters often implement Chinese traditions to avoid younger generations veering toward different traditions, such as the Western culture. As well, the Chinese-Canadians of the novel sustain a superior identity because of their own cultural village in Vancouver, known as Chinatown, to implement firm beliefs, heritage, and pride. Thus in Wayson Choy’s, The Jade Peony, the novel discusses the challenge for different characters to maintain a firm and sole identity in the midst of a new environment with different temptations and influences. Ultimately, the characters of this novel rely upon different influences to form an identity, one of which being a strong and wide elderly personal
Their Aunt’s persona is obscure before she arrives, and once she is their full caretaker, they begin to realize that her behavior is contrasting to their formulated notion of domesticity. The entrance of Sylvie puts a strain on the two inseparable sisters. Sylvie represents the opposite of Lucille, who mimics the ideals and values of Fingerbone,therefore; She represents the paragon of a female within the 1950’s. With opposing views such as the matters of schooling ,feeding, cleaning, and responsibilities the relationship is severed between the sisters. For example, the heaps of unwashed dishes, burnt curtains, opened cans reflecting trash to Lucille and art to Sylvie, and the lights that are rarely turned on. Lucille set on finding an escape from her grandmother’s house and rejecting transience, allows Ruth to no longer base her identity to the one her sister and the town has construed for her. With the severing of the relation and Lucille leaving to home economics teachers house, Ruth is liberated from the bondage of her sister who expected her to be her shadow. With the diversion of ideals between Sylvie and Lucille, the differences between permanence and transience is highlighted through the use of the two. This is noted when Ruth says “Lucille hated everything that had to do with transience”(103).And after this statement we
themselves always unstable and ajar: race, she seems to be saying is a figure that can never be decoded once and for all, either on the body or through the signs and language that promise truth-content by classifying racial affect and effect” (779). This is affirmed through the characters ability to be ambiguous about their racial labeling. Clare and Irene find themselves able to pass through racially segregated spaces and different racial groups due to how others perceive them within those boundaries. This is illustrated when they are unquestioned when entering the Drayton Hotel, and more abundantly when they are surrounded by different racial groups but are able to meld with the culture represented by those groups.
She cleans, entertains, and takes care of the children. Her diversion from her usual routine as a mother woman is started by her own inward questioning when she goes down to the beach with Adele Ratignolle and she asks her what she is thinking. Edna expresses a want to know herself, even though Adele and many others tell her that it is a useless wish. Edna has no one who truly understands her; she is isolated from society by a barrier of self knowledge that they deem madness. The only person who might understand is Robert, who she loves. But even he turns pale when Edna speaks derisively of his want for her husband to give her to him, saying that she can give herself to whomever she chooses. There is no one in the novel who has the same mindset as Edna. The isolation and pressure from society and her husband adds to her madness, cumulating in an eventual breakdown where she smashes a vase and throws off her wedding ring. The casting away of her ring symbolizes Edna throwing off the shackles of society and a loveless marriage to be her own person. She stamps on the ring, showing her distaste for her path in life and her choices in the past. Edna’s madness, and break down, show her deteriorating patience with her life and the mothering façade she wears day to day. Society views her as mad when she moves out of her husband’s house to live on her own. She breaks away from her life to set herself
All cultural identities differ from one way or the other and every perceptive consciousness is rooted in its own socio- cultural, racial, class and gender identity. For the immigrant writers, the quest for identity has been a significant issue at the social, cultural, literary emotional and psychological levels. Writers like Rohinton Mistry, Anita Desai, UmaParameswaran and a host of other immigrant writers highlight this quest for national identity by defining, redefining, analyzing and exploring it from all possible angles. Uma Parameswaran’s works offer a special insight because she herself is a descendant immigrant Indian who is constantly aware of the agonizing problem of identity crisis. Like all migrants, she has not been able to shake herself free of the idea of roots. In her work, one can find the dilemma that an immigrant writer undergo by creating an imaginary home for herself and reconstruct her