On March 30, 2021, there were six people at our Zoom book group: Annie, Libby, Marylib, Joan, Saran, and Sheri. Libby chose this small short novel written in 1929, but it was by no means small in its portrayal of a conflicting world of two women that could have made the same choice in life but went very diverging ways. It was one of the most interesting group discussions, no one was untouched by the book.
Clare made the choice to pass as white, and marry a well-off bigoted white man, even though she was light skinned of mixed race. Irene made the choice to marry into a stable black middle class even though she could have passed as white and she did so when convenient. The story unfolds as each woman steps into the other one's life and to Libby, it became more of a psychological inner battle, mainly for Irene who remained in the Negro world. Clare entered into Irene's world as Marylib and others felt, as a thrill seeker, a risk taker, and as a result Clare upset the carefully stable planned life of Irene as a successful middle class black. Some felt that the black and white issue was just a framework for the universal themes of security, control, class, and jealousy.
Clare refuses to feel the expected anguish and anxiety at the possible betrayal of her black identity and socializes with blacks for the purposes of excitement rather than any racial solidarity. Clare knew from an early age living with two white aunts how fluid class boundaries could be, so she passed as white. "Passing itself becomes a kind of race, with its own codes of behavior, carefully drawn lines, and exclusions." (Annie) Some felt Clare was shallow, and even though she had to hide her race all the time, and flaunted the risk. "The trouble with Clare was, not only that she wanted to have her cake and eat it too, but that she wanted to nibble at the cakes of other folks as well."
Irene felt that Clare threatened her way of life. When Clare reentered her life, she became insecure about her husband and status and all that she had achieved in her life. But as Annie reminded us from the book, Irene was like a moth to a flame, she was totally drawn to Clare, who was glamorous, beautiful, and "exquisite, golden, fragrant, and flaunting." She was jealous of Clare, but Clare does say at one time to Irene, "You're free, you're happy." Clare expresses her jealousy outwardly even though Irene's inner turmoil is a big part of the novel.
The author, Nella Larsen was a light skinned black, often called mulatto near the turn of the 20th century. Her parents were of mixed race but her father left early in her life and her Danish mother married another Dane and they lived in white middle class neighborhoods. She must have gone through life wondering at her identity and searching for financial stability. In making choices in her life, Nella Larsen reflected the two women in the novel "Passing" who seemingly become obsessed with each other's chosen path. The author is quite adroit at writing about the process of the mind that is divided against itself, "that fights between the dictates of reason and desire."
At one time Irene and her husband Brian discuss passing. And Irene says, "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." As Clare enters the world of of the blacks in Harlem, we see her boldly going to events and parties, until one party, Clare's husband shows up and knows his wife is black. The events of Clare's death presumably going out of the window by who's hand we do not know, are foggy. As Saran said, the story would have dragged on otherwise, so it had to have an abrupt ending. Some of the last words are "death by misadventure..."
There are so many other themes hinted at with this book, but they didn't ring true to the group, such as a sexual attraction between the two women. We are all looking forward to the movie coming out later this fall to see how these two women and their situations are portrayed.
No comments:
Post a Comment