ipl-logo

Summary Of Passing By Nella Larsen

1616 Words7 Pages

Passing, a novella written in the late 1920s, depicts important messages of identity, race, and relationships through Larsen’s portrayal of characters and use of story plot. Larsen typically wrote in the time setting in which she lived, the early twentieth century. During this time, being a person of color was frowned upon. Being Caucasian allowed individuals to have certain rights and superiority above individuals with African American decent. Certain laws, such as the Jim Crow Laws, enforced racial segregation and mandated the separation of whites and people of color in public places. Nella Larsen ties in the importance of this time, and the difficulties that were faced by people of color, with a fictional drama of an unfaithful marriage. …show more content…

Irene soon pieced together and suspected Brains attraction to Clare, and the possibility of an affair taking place. “Strange, that she couldn’t now be sure that she had ever truly known love. Not even for Brian. He was her husband and the father of her sons. But was he anything more?” (Larsen, Passing, 201). With the knowledge of the infidelity in her relationship, Irene questions the love between her and her husband, and the conflict caused by Clare grew. “In conventional works, the passer learns that, regardless of the motivations for passing, such a choice has overwhelming costs. These novels end with the characters' returning to the safe confines of the supportive Black community. Larsen, obviously aware of the traditions before her, chooses not to depict such serene returns for her characters in Passing” (Little 173). In returns to the black community, Clare’s true race is discovered by her white husband, and ultimately results in her tragic death. Nella Larsen broke away from the typical foreshadowed ending, and created an ironic twist of events to the conflict of the …show more content…

I am able to relate to Irene's character because although she is not of mixed race, she carries the same values in a relationship as myself. Irene Redfield believes that being a mother to her two boys is important and wants to work to maintain her marriage with her husband for the sake of her children. Personally, I have the same values in the sense that when I get married and have children, I want to stay in a committed relationship working to overcome obstacles, so my children can grow up with both parents. In the novel Quicksand, Helga is a women of mixed race who ventures to find a place where she belongs. In a way, I can relate to Helga because I have traveled from different schools and communities in my childhood, typically communities that consisted of white race. As a girl of color, I wanted to see people that were more like myself, be in an environment of people that were my

Show More
Related
1158 Words | 5 Pages

We don't have a definitive answer since the cop at the end of the book calls her death a “Misadventure”. All these things cause the story to change its meaning. “Death by misadventure” could mean Clare died as a black woman and no one is responsible for her death. The ending with “Everything was dark” doesn't let us know if Clare died or if anyone is responsible. Nella Larsen decided to not answer questions after she was accused of plagiarism.

Read More
1002 Words | 5 Pages

The individuals in this world are foolish to intuit hate for each other, for one way or another, we are all connected. The reason for this connectivity is the fault of passing or racial ambiguity. Passing is where an individual from one race is accepted into another based off of their appearance. Examples from: the film titled Little White Lie, a guest speaker named Rebecca Campbell, and the novel by J. California Cooper titled Family, explain this notion of passing and how it caused the world to be so connected.

Read More
367 Words | 2 Pages

This shows that Irene judges based on appearance and likes to think highly of herself. But her relationship with Brian isn’t as perfect as she portrays it to be. Deep down, Irene has a sense of fear stealing away her sense of security with Brian (43). Irene realizes that she cannot have the same privileges as being white has because she is bound to a race that limits her from doing what she wants. All of Irene’s mixed feelings about her identity leaves her in a state where she wishes that “she had not been born a Negro” because she was “caught between two allegiance” (78); herself and her race.

Read More
575 Words | 3 Pages

1920’s society offered a prominent way for blacks that look white to exploit its barrier and pass in society. Visible within Nella Larsen’s Passing, access to the regular world exists only for those who fit the criteria of white skin and white husband. Through internal conflict and characterization, the novella reveals deception slowly devours the deceitful. In Passing, Clare and Irene both deceive people. They both engage in deceit by having the ability to pass when they are not of the proper race to do so.

Read More
1095 Words | 5 Pages

I will be taking a postmodern approach to the text and supplementing it with modernism and psychoanalytic theories before stating my final stance that postmodernism may be the most appropriate approach. This approach ensures that different perspectives are present in my analysis and ensures that it is not one-sided. The question that I hope to focus my argument on is “Does the postmodernist approach better emerge the idea of self from racism?” Rottenberg, Catherine. " Passing : Race, Identification, and Desire. " Criticism, vol. 45, no. 4, 2004, pp. 435-452.

Read More
930 Words | 4 Pages

In Passing by Nella Larsen, the mentioning of eyes gives the reader an indication of something significant in the text. Passing is told from the perspective of Irene Redfield, an observant mother and wife that accepts her heritage. When Irene re-encounters her old childhood friend, Clare Kendry, at the Drayton Hotel Clare reveals her new life of luxury as a result of passing into the white world. Clare is described as dangerous and mysterious and this re-encounter can bring nothing but trouble into Irene’s perfect life. Throughout the text, Irene regards Clare as something ‘otherworldly’ and even though Irene is described as observant Clare is the only person that Irene is unable to see through.

Read More
701 Words | 3 Pages

This smile along with Irene's jealousy of Clare led her to do something she would normally never think about doing. Irene “laid a hand on Clare’s bare arm” she only thought of one thing “She couldn’t have Clare Kendry cast aside” and “She couldn’t have her free” (Larsen 76). Irene never clearly remembered what occurred next. "Clare was there, a vital glowing thing, like a flame of red and gold, the next she was gone" (Larsen 76). The next thing anyone knew was that Clare went flying out the window.

Read More
1282 Words | 6 Pages

Irene's marriage with Brian Redfield is empty and unfulfilling. Brian resents Irene because she was the reason why he could not be where he wanted to be, which has led to discomfort and arguments throughout their marriage. Brian very much wanted to be in Brazil, but Irene insisted upon him

Read More
1148 Words | 5 Pages

Irene is struggling her with her race and overall identity due to her obligation to Clare. She continues to keep Clare’s secret from Clare’s husband as her own self-identity suffers. Irene for the first moment ever in her life no longer wants to be black. This is absolutely devastating because race is so intertwined with ourselves, Irene expressing this resentment, proves how even though everyone race is fixed the way you perceive your race and other races can be altered by the adversities presented. The adversity in this case being Irene’s complicated relationship with Clare.

Read More
1484 Words | 6 Pages

It is often said that a new definition of a woman arose in the 1920s. But is that true? While most women experienced many newfound freedoms in the 1920s, black women could not explore these freedoms as easily as white women. In the novel Passing by Nella Larsen, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry grew up in Chicago together and are now both two wives and mothers in New York City during the 1920s, but there is a big difference between them. The novel’s title refers to light-skinned black women masquerading as white women for social benefits.

Read More
694 Words | 3 Pages

This quotation relates to the novel Passing because it shows the friendship between two childhood friends who rekindle their friendship as grown adults. The novel Passing, written by Nella Larsen talks about two African American woman with different experiences. The relationship between the two African American woman who share two different lifestyles, but similar in different ways. Throughout the novel it is seen that both characters have many similarities and differences. Irene is a colored woman who is married with two children.

Read More
1551 Words | 7 Pages

Although Clare is portrayed as a very individualistic and self-loving woman who is indulged by her high class, her eagerness to be around Irene inspires her to reconnect with her black community to some

Read More
174 Words | 1 Pages

In Nella Larsen’s novel Passing, the question of racial identity and racial pride is presented through several characters who struggle with their own identity and with the identities of others. We are presented with two opposing sides of the color line through Irene and Jack, who both stand firmly by their respective races. These two, who would otherwise be oblivious of the other, are brought together through their relationship with Clare, whose ability to pass upsets their view that race is stagnant and resolute. Although Irene and Jack condemn passing and act to reinforce the color line, they are nevertheless attracted to Clare and enamored by her charm and mystique. Something about her draws out similarities between them, and, though they

Read More
607 Words | 3 Pages

When she was two years old, Nella’s father died, and two years later, her mother married a white man named Peter Larsen, and they had a daughter named Anna. As Nella Larsen was the only colored person in the family, she was treated differently and her mother even denied Nella as her daughter. Because her childhood was so hard, Larsen almost never talked about it, and when she was an adult she would sometimes make up stories to people who asked about it. The oppression Larsen experienced in her early years may have been factor which influenced her be ambitious, desire to be famous, and to crave comfort. Nella Larsen wanted to have economic stability.

Read More
1919 Words | 8 Pages

Nella Larsen’s Passing is a novella about the past experiences of African American women ‘passing’ as whites for equal opportunities. Larsen presents the day to day issues African American women face during their ‘passing’ journey through her characters of Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. During the reading process, we progressively realize ‘passing’ in Harlem, New York during the 1920’s becomes difficult for both of these women physically and mentally as different kinds of challenges approach ahead. Although Larsen decides the novella to be told in a third person narrative, different thoughts and messages of Irene and Clare communicate broken ideas for the reader, causing the interpretation of the novella to vary from different perspectives.

Read More

More about Summary Of Passing By Nella Larsen

Related Topics

Open Document