Nella Larsen, "Passing"

“Passing” by Nella Larsen, published in 1929 is a novel about race that is seamlessly intertwined with gender and class. The novel primarily focuses on two childhood friends, Irene and Clare that meet again later in life and discuss the extent at which they will go to ‘pass’ as white. “Passing” is an example of the popular inclusion of the “tragic mulatto,” a figure that is seen in early African-American Literature of the 20th Century. Larsen is able to create a dynamic between these two women that not only mirrors the racial issues in society but also reveals how color differences within one’s own race can create animosity and turmoil.
Irene lives in Harlem and chooses to embrace her identity as an African American and marries a black doctor. On the other hand, Clare hides that she is part black and ends up marrying a white racist. Though Clare is obviously the more desperate woman in her desire to ‘pass,’ Irene also reveals that she would ‘pass’ as white if the situation called for it in order to avoid racial oppression. Each woman is almost seduced by the other’s lifestyle, but it is the resentment that boils between them that leads to a tragic ending.
The ambiguity of tragedy leaves the reader in question as to its implications on the characters’ futures, as well as putting Larsen’s seemingly simplistic term “passing” up for debate. At the beginning, the term ‘passing’ was a rather superficial and obvious term defining the two women’s various attempts to pass as white. Though at first Clare and Irene seemed at odds in their ideals as women and more importantly, African American women, toward the end of the novel their ideals of passing seemed to mirror each other, which in the end leads to extreme resentment, paranoia, and ultimately death. In this way, ‘passing’ took on a double meaning as it alludes to passing into death and the rejection of Clare by her racist husband once he finds out she is partially black. In addition, Larsen’s extensive narration of the internal and external struggle of ‘passing’ for Clare and Irene essentially creates a new race for all those who attempt to pass. In a way, this advocates that race is a social construction. Larsen speaks out on behalf of her own African American culture, attesting that openly rejecting one’s own race in an attempt to be part of another is putting oneself at odds with all identities.
“Passing” is a must-read for all those interested in the intricacies of African American struggles in regards to race, culture, gender and class. In addition one can see how all of these factors tie into race issues at large and how it is a universal burden to all of humanity regardless of skin color.