Summary Of Passing By Nella Larsen

Identity and Duality in Nella Larsen’s Passing The Harlem Renaissance was a 1920’s cultural movement that allowed African Americans growth after years of discrimination hindered them culturally. There are many well renowned writers associated with the movement, however although unrecognized Nella Larsen was a very relevant and important contribution with her novels Passing and Quicksand. Her novel Passing in particular, focuses on the lives of Irene and Brian Redfield and John Bellow and how their lives are affected by Clare-Kendra Below. The title “Passing,” is significant itself because it is according to Ohio State Law Journal, “a deception that enables a person to adopt certain roles or identities from which he would be barred by prevailing

Nella Larsen was born in 1891, the daughter of a Danish woman and a West Indian man; but after her father passed and her mom married a white man, she was looked down upon as the the only colored person in her white family. Consequently her characters were surrounded by convicted views of identity, race, and societal pressures, but their issues are not so direct. In this novel, her main characters are Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, two beautiful, wealthy black women who are able to “pass.” Clare is unfulfilled by her loveless marriage and boring life as a housewife rather than her heritage and therefore reaches out to her friend for a good time and something to do. Meanwhile Irene is unhappy with her marriage and is basically co-parenting because she is inhibiting her husband from following her dreams of financial and social stability in

Irene, confused by conflicting instincts to protect one of her race and to be “rid forever of Clare” (Larsen 69), holds on to her arm. The ending’s ambiguity begins here. Although Irene grips her arm, Clare suddenly falls to her death, and Irene refuses to remember the moment with any sort of clarity. “One moment Clare had been there, a vital glowing thing, like a flame of red and gold. The next she was gone” (Larsen 79). Irene’s paranoia resurfaces for a moment, as she wonders if people will think she pushed Clare, but she finally succumbs to body-wracking sobs, completely overtaken by her simultaneous love and hatred for Clare, who impressed and aroused her like no one else. Irene, in refusing to remember the facts clearly, commits psychological suicide. Although many would argue that she did commit verifiable homicide, and is responsible for the death of Clare Kendry, readers should in fact embrace the ambiguity in this ending. Obviously, Larsen intends for no right or wrong answer, for one should not find the answer to all their questions in this novella. Its ambiguity directly reflects the ambiguity of Larsen’s own life, and her thoughts that identifying identity is impossible. Clare, a creature so revered and yet so unreal, embodies something that cannot exist in the story frame: certainty. For by the end of the novel, Clare knows who she