Analysis Of Nella Larsen's Passing

Passing: Control Manifest Cannot Last Forever

Racial passing occurs when an individual born with one racial identity is also able to fit in as a member of another racial group. Nella Larsen’s novel Passing presents the theme of control manifest as a facet to explain the internal struggles of both race and attitude in the lives of two individuals, Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield, who are accidentally reunited on a rooftop deck both “passing” as white women after growing up together in a black society in Chicago in the early 1900’s. Clare Kendry contradicts all stereotypes of an average light-skinned black woman in the 1900’s. She passes as a white woman, is married to a racist white husband, and is perceived to have masculine characteristics

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

With underlying themes of seduction, racial, and gender stereotypes, Larsen compares the lifestyles of the two main characters in this novel and discusses the problems of control associated with both ends of the passing