'Passing' by Nella Larsen is a classic novel set in the 1920s that explores the themes of identity, racism, and the complexities of relationships. The story follows two light-skinned African American women, Clare and Irene, who can pass as white. Clare hides her true identity to fit into the white community, while Irene embraces her heritage but sometimes passes when convenient. The novel delves into the consequences of passing, the conflicts between societal expectations and personal identity, and the tensions between the characters as their true selves are revealed.
The book is lauded for its engaging plot, modernist prose techniques, and exploration of racial identity and societal expectations. The characters of Clare and Irene are praised for their complexity and the nuanced portrayal of their motivations and relationships. Larsen's writing style is commended for its concise and powerful prose, which effectively captures the emotional and psychological depth of the characters and the themes of the novel.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of racism, identity crisis, infidelity, and psychological tension which may be triggering for some readers.
From The Publisher:
Generally regarded as Nella Larsen's best work, Passing was first published in 1929 but has received a lot of renewed attention because of its close examination of racial and sexual ambiguities. It has achieved canonical status in many American universities.
Ratings (23)
Incredible (2) | |
Loved It (11) | |
Liked It (8) | |
It Was OK (2) |
Reader Stats (32):
Read It (24) | |
Want To Read (6) | |
Not Interested (2) |
3 comment(s)
I was a little surprised on how much this short novel was able to deliver in less than 200 pages as an ebook. It packs a punch and was a very interesting read.
Thought provoking
“That time in Chicago.” The words stood out from among the many paragraphs of other words, bringing with them clear, sharp remembrance, in which even now, after two years, humiliation, resentment, and rage were mingled.
Passing is not something I would typically be drawn to, but when I found a pristine Penguin edition at Goodwill (and saw how slim it is) I couldn’t pass it up. And I am so glad I did! because it was amazing, and also nothing like I expected.
I am not terribly in-tune with the contemporary discourse surrounding this book, but the little I’d heard made me think that it would be a slightly exhausting social justice treatise in which Larsen preaches about racism and sexuality. (To be clear, I don’t think that every book tackling important social issues is inherently preachy—I’d have to throw out most of my beloved Victorian fiction if that was the case—but that was the impression I had of this specific novel.) It doesn’t help that the back of my edition describes it as “a remarkably candid exploration of shifting racial and sexual boundaries.”
In actuality,
Passing is a psychological thriller in the vein of much of Shirley Jackson’s short fiction, with a taut sense of unease simmering just below the surface of what ostensibly is domestic women’s fiction. Every smile, every polite invitation to tea is barbed and heavy with hidden meaning. The effect is magnified by Larsen’s limpid writing: clear, beautiful, and direct, with lovely descriptions that are evocative and tonally perfect.
Clare—beautiful and careless—is reminiscent of other iconic American heroines like Scarlett O’Hara or Daisy Buchanan. And cautious Irene is her perfect counterpoint, her desperation manifesting in a very different way.
Obviously, race is a key part of the novel, but Larsen is subtle. She doesn’t sermonize: rather, she lets the reader see the inequities and dangers from Irene’s perspective, which is deeply impactful. (I disagree with everyone who tries to read queerness into the novel, yet another similarity with
Gatsby—modern readers seem thoroughly incapable of conceptualizing obsession outside of a sexual context.)
I have no criticism; even the length felt exactly right. I’m so glad I gave
Passing a chance.
Some favorite passages:
This is what Irene Redfield remembered.
Chicago. August. A brilliant day, hot, with a brutal staring, sun pouring down rays that were like molten rain. A day on which the very outlines of the buildings shuddered as if in protest at the heat. Quivering lines sprang up from baked pavements and wriggled along the shining car-tracks. The automobiles parked at the kerbs were a dancing blaze, and the glass of the shop-windows threw out a blinding radiance. Sharp particles of dust rose from the burning sidewalks, stinging the seared or dripping skins of wilting pedestrians. What small breeze there was seemed like the breath of a flame fanned by slow bellows.
There had been, even in those days, nothing sacrificial Clare Kendry's idea of life, no allegiance beyond her own in mediate desire. She was selfish, and cold, and hard. And ve she had, too, a strange capacity of transforming warmth and passion, verging sometimes almost on theatrical heroics.
It wasn't that she was ashamed of being a Negro, or even of having it declared. It was the idea of being ejected from any place, even in the polite and tactful way in which the Draytons would probably do it, that disturbed her.
The woman laughed, a lovely laugh, a small sequence of notes that was like a trill and also like the ringing of a delicat bell fashioned of a precious metal, a tinkling.
There were things that she wanted to ask Clare Kendry. She wished to find out about this hazardous business of "passing," this breaking away from all that was familiar and friendly to take one's chance in another environment, not entirely strange, perhaps, but certainly not entirely friendly."
But you've never answered my question. Tell me, honestly, haven't you ever thought of 'passing'?"
Irene answered promptly: "No. Why should I?" And so disdainful was her voice and manner that Clare's face flushed and her eyes glinted. Irene hastened to add: "You see Clare, I've everything I want. Except, perhaps, a little more money."
At that Clare laughed, her spark of anger vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Of course," she declared, "that's what everybody wants, just a little more money, even the people who have it. And I must say I don't blame them. Money's awfully nice to have. In fact, all things considered, I think, 'Rene, that it's even worth the price."
She said: "It's funny about 'passing.' We disapprove of it and at the same time condone it. It excites our contempt and yet we rather admire it. We shy away from it with an odd kind of revulsion, but we protect it.
It hurt. It hurt like hell. But it didn't matter, if no one knew. If everything could go on as before. If the boys were safe.
It did hurt.
But it didn't matter.
What can you read after
Passing?
About the Author:
Nella Larsen was born in Chicago in 1891 to a White Danish mother and a black West Indian father. She studied in America and Denmark and throughout her writing career she worked as a children's librarian and primarily as a nurse. In 1928 her first novel Quicksand was published to great critical acclaim. Passing was published a year later. Her marriage to Dr Elmer Imes brought her into contact with the upper echelons of New York's black society and she became an important female voice of the Harlem Renaissance. She was the first black woman to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship for creative writing. Divorced in 1933, she spent the rest of her life working as nurse. Nella Larsen died in 1964.
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