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Sasha Otanez

ENGL 2610

Andrea Malouf

Nella Larsens Passing explores the roles race and class play within society and shape

identity. The two main characters, Clare and Irene, live different lives but are connected by their

childhood and shared race. As the two women see how the other one lives, they struggle with a

sense of belonging within their communities. Larsen shows how identity is not easily defined

and explores what happens when ones personal identity conflicts with the identity assigned by

society. Through the two unstable characters Larsen illustrates the potentially fatal consequences

of passing and defying social expectations.

The novel introduces different definitions of passing but the most established is the act of

a light-skinned African American passing as white. Clare and Irene are both light-skinned and

have the ability to pass as white, whether they intend to or not. Clare passes into white society

and is able to obtain money, a social status, and a husband who supports her. In order to exist in

her community, she has to outwardly cut ties with her African American race. As others have

pointed out: in order to pass you have to abandon who you are and your history to receive the

benefits of being a white person (Knudsen 3). Irene is able to pass and while she chooses to be

involved in the African American community, passing as white still happens. Larsen doesnt

give the readers any hint that Irene is not white, until she is at the Drayton and an inner

disturbance, odious and hatefully familiar (Larsen 16) rises in her and she wonders if Clare is

staring at her because she is African American. When John Bellow joins them at the hotel for tea

he assumes everyone there is white, like him. This assumption is an example of how identity can
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be erased by ones surrounding society. For Bellow, race is only defined by skin color, and Irene

as a result passes as white unintentionally in that moment. At this time all three women are

actively passing as white to keep themselves, and mostly Clare, safe. This situation is an example

of Wescott's claim that humans will make unique and individual choices to overcome the

challenges they are faced with (2). Clare and Irene share the same race but identify in different

ways and it is through this Larsen shows how racial identity is not easily pinned down.

Clare and Irene incorporate race into their lives in interesting ways, as both seem to pick

and choose which parts to embrace. If Clare hadnt run into Irene, its possible she would have

continued living in white society for the benefits. It doesnt seem like Clare has very strong ties

to either race but enjoys being in Irenes world, noting that Irene is free, happy, and safe

(Larsen 67). While she acknowledges the potential danger of her husband finding out her race,

Clare wouldnt be devastated to leave white society, as she doesnt personally feel as if she

belongs. Knowing the danger of reclaiming her African American heritage, Clares passion and

impulsiveness outweigh the consequences regardless as she claims to get the things I want

badly enough, Id do anything, hurt anyone, throw anything away (Larsen 81). Larsen uses

Clare as an example to show that while passing can be useful, it also ends up restricting a

persons individuality. Clare is struggling with a sense of identity as she balances between the

white society she worked into and the race that runs through her blood. She treats the two races

as hats, switching between the two to see which one fits best which one makes her feel the

most like herself. Allgier points out the irony of Clare trying to find herself within the two

communities of which she belongs to both and neither at the same time (4). While Clare is

jumping back and forth, Irene also explores her racial identity.
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Irene is involved in the African American community but doesnt embrace her race in

certain aspects of her life. She will pass as white when necessary, out of a need for safety or if it

benefits her. While she understands the role race plays in society she prefers to stay ignorant to

that when it comes to her family. She becomes upset with Brian, not wanting him to talk to their

kids about the race problem. She wants her children to grow up happy, in New York, and free

from the knowledge of such things (Larsen 103). Brian argues that if Irene insists on making

them stay in America, rather than going to South America, they must know what theyre up

against. Larsen creates a character that identifies as African American but prefers to not think of

the racism that threatens her familys happiness. In this way Larsen questions racial identity and

the expectations that come with it.

Larsen creates two women who are somewhat detached to the black community. Both

women are African American and are aware of the racism and disadvantages inflicted by white

society. Clare navigates this by passing, instinct of the race to survive (Larsen 56), as Brian

mentions. Irene lives an upper class life, mirroring white society, and wants to raise her children

in that same way happy, and not bluntly aware of the racist society they live in. While Allgier

argues Irene and Clare are flipped sides of the coin because of their different upbringings

(Allgier 1), this idea also works to show the contrasting lives they lead. Clare and Irene arent

ashamed of their race but they do fear the threat of exclusion. In order to navigate through

society both women embrace certain aspects of their race and by doing this Larsen introduces the

idea that not everyone with the same race identifies the same way. Racial identity can vary and it

can be a personal choice as to how much your race shapes your personality.

In the same way Clare is drawn to Irenes seemingly free world, Irene is drawn to Clares

sense of security in a white upper class world. Irene strives to live a civilized and cultured life
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and holds herself to white standards. Clare represents the life Irene wants and at the same time,

Clare is the very thing that threatens Irenes chance. When Clare comes back into Irenes life,

Irene wants nothing to do with her yet is drawn to her. Clares ambition and impulsiveness

intrigue her and she realizes Clare is capable of heights and depths of feelings (Larsen 66) that

Irene had never known or cared to know. When Irene suspects Clare and Brian are having an

affair she feels as if her world may fall apart right then and there. Her marriage that she has

always been working so hard to keep together may already be collapsing. Irene is insecure,

terrified of being alone, and comes to the realization that security was the most important and

desired thing in life (Larsen 107). Clares presence brings up emotions in Irene and thoughts she

previously could have kept buried. While she realizes she had never known true love (Larsen

107), she decides regardless she will hold fast to the shell of marriage and keep her life fixed,

certain (Larsen 108). She is willing to potentially make her and her family miserable by

forcing them into the mold of what she thinks their lives should be (Allgier 3). Clare serves as

an inspiration to Irene, she represents the life she wants but also the emotional passionate woman

Irene never allowed herself to be. Irene molds her behavior to white standards, being civil and

proper, to be accepted and Clares erratic behavior threatens to un-do all of that. Not only is

Clare acting dangerously with the exact life Irene wants, she is also a threat to Irenes security as

she notes if Clare was freed, anything might happen (Larsen 108). The two women rely on

each other to feel whole but as they disrupt societal norms, they reach their fate.

Larsen leaves a lot of things up to interpretation in the final chapter, leaving readers to

question her intended message. In the end Clare is confronted by her husband and falls to her

death before she gets a chance to claim a race she identifies with. Irene, intent on keeping her life

from falling apart goes to put her arm on Clare but her memory blurs on the details after that.
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Irene loses her sense of self and becomes paranoid, wondering if she actually did push Clare out

the window or if she fell on her own. Irene is frozen in shock, not because she feels sorry Clare is

gone, but because she is worried everyone saw her unstable, uncivilized behavior that she has

worked so hard to mask. She is unraveling, no longer representing a logical and grounded

character (Allgier 1). Clare and Irene were able to confront all of the thoughts they had buried

deeply, and their encounter was the driving force for their true identities to be brought to light.

Larsen shows that attempting to define identity is fatal. When Clare was forced to pick an

identity, she fell to her death, and Irene being the cause of that suffers a sort of psychological

death who she thought she was dies. Larsen seems to be suggesting that death and tragedy are

the consequences of societies attempt at assigning one identity. Allgier touches on this when he

points out that Clare and Irene want to be each other but that we must be the people we chose to

be (3). Their unstable identity threatens the stability and presupposed notions of their

communities. Clare doesnt acknowledge the communities she is socially obligated to be in and

it seems as a consequence is forced to fall to her death. She disrupts society by not choosing one

identity over another and her ambiguity is punished by death. To fall out of societal expectations

is a sort of societal death however giving up one identity for another is a type of personal death.

Through Passing Larsen communicates the misconception of one identity and that trying to

assign a person one assumed identity, you are not letting them be whole; to be themselves.
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Works Cited

Allgier, Scott. Passing Interpretation. 2017.

Knudsen, Maxwel. Passing. 2017.

Larsen, Nella. Passing. Penguin Group, 1997.

Wescott, Spencer. Individuality. 2017.