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The Triumphs And Downfalls Of Passing By Nella Larsen

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Chepiga Yuliya Professor Dani Spinosa AP/EN 3350 November 27, 2017 The Triumphs and Downfalls of “Passing” in Nella Larsen's novel Passing On April 26, 1929, a novel Passing by Nella Larsen captured public attention, conjuring a memorable story within the controversial box of one’s desire for recognition and fear of rejection. These oppressing emotions are complicated by the demands of assimilation. Passing explores the role of African American culture in molding one’s identity in the European-influenced western world. Through nostalgic and heart-wrenching flashbacks, the readers are submerged in the internal struggles of two dynamic women of color, Irene Westover and Clare Kendry, whose destinies are deeply intertwined through their appearance, …show more content…

The novel begins a brief flashback that takes the readers into the lives of two light-skinned woman from Chicago who were born into different social classes, but still shared the experience of growing up as black females. Although, at first, Irene Westover seems to be born a silver spoon in her mouth, she appears to sacred of her position in her family. She is completely absorbed in maintaining the perfect image she has established for her family members. Classifying herself as “practical and determined” (LARSEN 63), Irene simply conceals her overprotectiveness she imposes on her sons. She reprimands her husband for making observation regarding the issues such as racism and lynching before her sons. Being influenced by her carefree childhood in the Westovers’ South Side, where she was shielded from the reality of racial segregation, she strongly believes that she could recreate the same conditions for her own children. Occasionally, her tendency to shelter her sons, Junior and Ted, leads to the fight with her husband Brian Redfield, a successful physician. Unlike Irene, he positively accepts his sons’ curiosity toward the knowledge of sex, recognizing in this, their eagerness to discover more about the world. He insists on widening his sons knowledge by not tucking away the facts of life, especially the frightful facts of racism.

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The story of Passing by Nella Larsen greatly conveys the essence of the meaning of passing while giving us an stomach twisting exciting mystery at the conclusion of the novel. Larsen extends her understanding of passing to more than its apparent racial considerations. In her extended coverage of the phenomenon of passing, her focus stays on those who do not live authentically. On those who are so frantic to change their lives that they end up risking it. The story that was recently discussed in the earlier paragraph is parallel to the situation that Nella Larson described in her book.

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In a conversation about passing, Clare describes how she successfully passes over and what exactly it is that makes her so successful in doing so. Irene, curious to know how, asks these questions because she cannot believe the fact that Clare has abandoned her background and where she comes from. She then comes to the conclusion that as Clare has no background to present to the white community, she must have made up stories. In Passing, the author Nella Larsen enhances this passage in numerous ways in order to provide meaning. The importance of this conversation is emphasized by the diction used to create significant meaning, the supporting of themes presented throughout the novella, and the details regarding arising conflicts throughout the novella.

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(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).

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Nella Larsen impacted the writing world with her fresh and unique approach on themes such as gender and sexuality. Having written Quicksand and Passing Larsen was awarded the Charmon Foundation Bronze Medal for literature as well as being named the first African‐ American women to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship Award, Larsen was celebrated as one of the bright intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. At a very young age Larson’s West Indie father Peter Walker walked out of her life and soon after her mother remarried a white man named Peter Larsen that was thought to be the same person possibly trying to “pass” as white like her characters. Larsen’s novel Passing is about two light skinned African‐American women that are trying

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Nella Larsen’s Passing is a novella about the experiences of African American women ‘passing’ as whites for equal opportunities. Larsen presents the day to day issues they 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 1920s becomes difficult for both of these women physically and mentally as different kinds of challenges progress 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 which causes the interpretation of the novella to vary from distinct perspectives. Jakobson’s model of

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Though public attitudes towards miscegenation and interracial marriage have improved in the last several decades, the practice of these concepts was not tolerated in the early 20th century. In Nella Larsen’s Quicksand, this stigma explains the situation of Helga Crane, a half white, half black woman living in the American South. Struggling to find her place in society, she settles down as a teacher at Naxos, an all-black institution. However, as she realizes her circumstances, she decides to leave her job and fiancé. She moves to Harlem, and then to Denmark, only to find that the people around her continue to treat her differently.

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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.

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Passing, by Nella Larsen, explores the complexities of race and how it influences relationships between people. The novel illustrates how race is not a fixed and immutable characteristic, but rather a fluid and ever-evolving construct shaped by one's experiences and surroundings. Larsen’s deft analysis is exemplified by the discussion of Claude Jones. While Jones is not a central character seen in the plot, the small embedded narrative around his life is used to provide the reader with a template showing that race is not static but rather something one assimilates into over the course of a person’s life. This is the lens through which the reader can better understand Claire and her attempts at residing in two cultures passing from black to

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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.

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Irene's struggles with her own identity and her place within the black community highlight the ways in which societal expectations and pressures can create feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt in individuals who do not fit neatly into racial categories. As she attends a party with her husband and other black professionals, Irene reflects on her own identity and the ways in which she is perceived by others. She thinks to herself, "I am who I am, and they can't make me different" (Larsen 24). Clare's decision to pass, on the other hand, highlights the very real dangers and limitations faced by people of color in a society that values whiteness and marginalizes people of color. Clare's passing is a desperate attempt to escape the limitations and dangers of her black heritage, but it ultimately leads to a sense of isolation and disconnection from her true self.

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