Summary Of Passing By Nella Larsen

From the moment Irene Redfield hesitates to open a letter from her childhood friend to Clare Kendry’s untimely death, Nella Larsen, in her novel Passing, conveys the complex issues with the act of racial passing. When Irene encounters Clare for the first time in twelve years, she learns of her choice to pass as white and marry Jack Bellew, an outspoken racist unaware of her actual identity. As Clare reconnects with Irene, she attempts to immerse herself in black culture while visiting America until Jack finds out her true race, resulting in a confrontation where she dies in a fall. As she learns of Clare’s life while passing, Irene seeks to make sense of her views of the act and the nuances of the decision. To interrogate the notion of passing

Larsen first establishes that Irene holds an unreliable perspective through her contradictory beliefs and hasty thoughts after arguments with her husband. As she drinks tea at the Drayton and first notices Clare, she ponders if “that woman, somehow knows that here before her very eyes.sat a Negro”, which causes her to feel “anger, scorn, and fear slide over her” at the thought of removal from the hotel (Larsen 1085). Through Irene’s fear of removal, Larsen establishes her willingness to pass as white when convenient, despite her outward disdain for the “hazardous business” of doing so (Larsen 1090). Irene’s passing illustrates that the narrative she presents is what she chooses to define as the truth, rather than the full reality of her circumstances. To further shroud her reliability in uncertainty, Larsen often reveals Irene’s thoughts in stressful moments after arguments with her husband, Brian. After they debate whether passing is simply the “instinct of the race to survive and expand” or a denial of one’s identity, Brian expresses his frustrations with his occupation as a doctor, stating he hates “sick people, and their stupid, meddling families.and climbing filthy steps in dark hallways” (Larsen

Irene takes pride in having dark children, “struggling with a flood of feelings” upon Gertrude’s repulsed reaction to her blatant love for her children (Larsen 1097). The stark contrast between her perspective and Clare’s influences the latter’s ambivalence as she only provides the fears of a dark child, which extends to the loss of the ability to pass. Because Irene only shares Clare’s negative feelings about parenting, her full beliefs are unknown. Larsen simultaneously utilizes Irene’s unreliable narrative to convey her ambivalence in allowing Clare to associate with the black culture in Harlem. While on a visit to the Redfield home, Clare learns of and declares her intent to go to a Negro dance to Irene’s contention. To dissuade her, she claims white people present to “gaze on the Negroes” provides “unpleasantness and possible danger” should the wrong person notice her (Larsen 1115-1116). Irene’s argument of danger from attending the party stems from her belief that passing diminishes Clare’s safety, which by extension diminishes her security by affiliating with a woman passing as