During Nella Larsen’s lifetime, the African American community in Harlem, NY was experiencing the Harlem Renaissance. They were questioning and pushing the boundaries of commonly accepted views of African Americans. Larsen was bold enough to talk about passing, or when black people pass as white, and the fact that sexual attraction can exist between two women. In her novel Passing, Larsen takes a strong stance on the act of passing and the sexuality of women.
Harlem, New York was experiencing major cultural changes during the first half of the 20th century. Nella Larsen, a mixed woman that was working as a librarian in Harlem, was in the center of this explosion. Even though Larsen only published two books during the Harlem Renaissance,
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Throughout the novel, Larsen addresses issues of race, but sometimes her views were slightly different than those of the average Harlem Renaissance writer. Most Harlem Renaissance authors “generally explored […] the estrangement of African Americans, the kinship of blacks in all continents, and the beauty of blackness” (Han). However, Larsen showed her characters struggling against their race instead of realizing its beauty. During one part of the novel, Irene thinks “Race! The thing that bound and suffocated her” (Larsen 98). Yet again, Larsen takes a different view on passing. The ending of the novel clearly shows that Larsen does not support passing. Like many people in Harlem during this time, Larsen wanted African Americans to embrace their heritage. However, Larsen does have one of her characters in Passing admit that “[African Americans] disapprove of [passing] and at the same time condone it. It excites [their] contempt and yet [they] rather admire it. [They] shy away from it with an odd kind of revulsion, but [they] protect it” (Larsen 56). In this quote, Larsen is admitting that even though African Americans are repulsed by those who pass, they still somewhat admire them, which is something most Harlem authors would not