In the novel, “Passing” Irene is the villain of the story, not Clare
Summary
Nella Larsen, an American writer was born on 13 April 1891 in Chicago, Illinois. She wrote a number of novels during the period of Harlem Renaissance. Her second novel, Passing, was first published in 1929, and it narrates a story about two women, Irene and Clare, who are of African and European traits. In the novel, the two women were childhood friends before they lost touch after Clare lost her father. Later in life, they meet when Clare is married to a white man who happens to be a racist while Irene is married to a black man whose profession is a doctor. Even though Clare appears to be ruthless and always out for herself, Irene is the villain of the story and not Clare. There are instances where she comes out strongly as a character who did not forget her heritage.
Instances in which Clare’s action can be seen as a villain
Clare comes out strongly as a villain, because she does not just support white people by marrying a white man, but also completely conforms to the white identity and lifestyle (25). For instance, she knows her true heritage and does not inform her husband who is a racist. She avoids any conversations about race when her husband inquires (Larsen 64). She engages in socializing with her black friends in secret while assuming the deadly consequences, which could result when her husband, a racist, would find out her contacts with black people. This is magnified when Bellew follows her to a social gathering, which is at the dwelling of a black couple and bursts out angry. As a result, she becomes confused and her death results from a mysterious fall through a window that was open.
Secondly, Clare comes out strongly as a villain when she frequents her contacts with Irene while seeking to get excitement (Larsen 35). This frequent association is what leads Irene to believe that Clare and Brian are involved in a romance type, as she grows envious of Clare’s beauty. The close contact is not respectful on Irene’s perception and eventually triggers her ill feeling about Clare’s relationship with Brian. This emerges to be a direct disruption on Irene’s life and eventually leads her to have a negative feeling about Clare resulting to hatred. This is not acceptable on Irene’s side and Clare should be blamed for all that is happening; the conflict that arises between Irene and her, keeping in mind that they are of the same race and did share a childhood.
Thirdly, even though she seeks to socialize with her black friends, she does so for the purposes of getting excitement and not gain any sense of racial pride or solidarity (Larsen 75). A character who comes out strongly in passing and revealing pangs of distress because of forsaking her race is a predictable tragic mulatto, of which Clare does not show any such feelings whatsoever. She therefore brings out a picture of uncouth individual who does not appreciate her race and proves to conform to the white race. This is pictured a pass from the racial status, which is unacceptable by the people of her race.
Instances that show Clare did not forget her true heritage
Clare seems to conform to the white race through marrying a white man and living a lifestyle of the whites. However, she does not forget her true heritage for she seeks to regain contacts with her black friends in Harlem (53); even though this is for the purposes of excitement. When she gets the chance of meeting her black friends, she is drawn closer and closer to them yet she knows the risks very well to which she was subjecting herself. In reality, she had white friends around her town that she would socialize with to eliminate boredom, but she instead opts for her black friends in Harlem. This shows an appreciation of her true heritage. More so, she understands the character of her husband and does not want to interfere with her marriage. She therefore decides to contact her black friends in secret without Bellew’s knowledge. Choosing this action shows that she appreciates her race and would rather show solidarity by remaining in contact with her fellow blacks in secret.
At the same time, despite her partial contacts with her black friends, she personally attends social gatherings with her black friends, which depicts an in depth appreciation of her true heritage. She goes ahead to spend more time with Irene’s friends of African American decent in Harlem which disrupts her own life directly. Her friends are even afraid of what would befall her if her husband finds out her involvement with blacks (Larsen 76). In fact, her tragic and mysterious death (209) results from one of her visits to a home of a black couple, and Bellew finds out that she is truly a black. Her death shows a heroic death as she dies while appreciating her true heritage, even though it is perceived as betrayal from Bellew’s view.
In addition, Clare is not to blame for her identity as a married woman since she was subjected to life experiences from both the black and white sides, with the white experience being the latter. After her father’s death, she lived with her aunts who were racists and it is this life experience that has given the identity of her adult life (Larsen 22). During this time, she would hardly remember anything to do with her black friends and did learn most of the life experiences within the white community (Larsen 21). If indeed she would have grown up around blacks after her father’s death, she would eventually appreciate her true heritage. This applies to most human beings, of which Clare is not an exception.
Works Cited
Larsen, Nella. Passing. New York & London, A. A. Knopf, 1929. Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries, University of Connecticut Libraries. Available at: <http://archive.org/stream/passing00lars/passing00lars_djvu.txt>.
