Passing is a 1929 novel by American author Nella Larsen. Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives. The title refers to the practice of "racial passing", which is a key element of the novel. Clare Kendry's attempt to pass as white for her husband, John (Jack) Bellew, is significant and is a catalyst for the tragic events.
Larsen's exploration of race was informed by her own mixed racial heritage and the increasingly common practice of racial passing in the 1920s. Praised upon publication, the novel has since been celebrated in modern scholarship for its complex depiction of race, gender, and sexuality, and the book is the subject of considerable scholarly criticism. As one of only two novels that Larsen wrote, the novel has been significant in placing its author at the forefront of several literary canons.
The novel was adapted as a 2021 film of the same name by Rebecca Hall.
Plot
The story is written as a third person narrative from the perspective of Irene Redfield, an African-American woman of mixed race who could "pass" for white. She lives in Harlem in New York City.
Part One of the book, titled "Encounter," opens with Irene receiving a letter from Clare Kendry, causing her to recall a chance encounter she had had with her, at the roof restaurant of the Drayton Hotel in Chicago, during a brief stay in the city. Irene does not answer Clare's letters attempting to reconnect. The women grew up together but lost touch when Clare's white father died and she was taken to live with her two paternal white aunts. Irene learns that Clare is passing for white, living primarily in Europe with her unsuspecting, rich, racist white husband and their daughter.
Although Irene tries to avoid further engagement with Clare, she never is able to fully exclude her from her life as she later visits Clare for tea along with another childhood friend, Gertrude Martin. Toward the end of the visit, Clare's white husband John (Jack) Bellew arrives. Unaware that all three women have black ancestry, Jack enthusiastically affirms his hatred of black people, making the women uneasy. In a startling passage, he also reveals his pet name for Clare, "Nig". Although Jack does not suspect that his wife has black ancestry (and, in fact, believes that his "Nig" hates black people as much as he does), he gave her that name because he perceives that Clare, who was "white as a lily" when they were married, has been "gettin' darker and darker". Irene and Gertrude say nothing in response, in part to maintain Clare's secret identity. Afterwards, Irene receives a letter of apology from Clare but destroys it in an effort to forget about Clare. Irene seeks instead to focus on her own life with her husband, Brian, and their two sons, Theodore and Junior.
Part Two of the book, "Re-encounter," returns to the present, with Irene having received the letter from Clare. After Irene ignores it, Clare visits in person, and Irene reluctantly agrees to see her. When Clare learns that Irene serves on the committee for the "Negro Welfare League" (NWL) she invites herself to their upcoming dance. Irene advises against that, because of the risk that Jack will find out. Clare attends the dance and enjoys it, and is drawn to continue spending time in Harlem. Irene and Clare resume their childhood companionship, and Clare frequently visits Irene's home.
The third part of the novel begins before Christmas; Irene's relationship with her husband has become increasingly fraught. She is aware of Clare's appeal, and becomes convinced that her husband is having an affair with the friend. While shopping with a Black friend, Felise Freeland, Irene encounters Clare's husband, Jack. When he tries to greet her, she pretends not to know him, to avoid his meeting Felise. But Irene thinks the encounter may help expose Clare's secret. Irene considers warning Clare but decides against it.
Later, Clare accompanies Irene and Brian to a party hosted by Felise. The gathering is interrupted by Jack, who accuses Clare of being a "damned dirty nigger!" Irene rushes to Clare, who is standing by an open window. Suddenly, Clare falls out of the window to the ground six stories below. She is pronounced dead by the guests who eventually gather at the site. It is unclear whether she fell accidentally, was pushed by either Irene or Bellew, or committed suicide. The book ends with Irene's fragmented anguish at Clare's death.
Background
Biographical context As early as 1925, Nella Larsen had decided that she wanted to be among the "New Negro" writers of the time. Initially writing short stories, which were sold early in 1926 to a ladies magazine, she was rumored that year to be writing a novel. In a letter to her friend, Carl Van Vechten, she said, "it is the awful truth. But, who knows if I'll get through with the damned thing. Certainly not I."Letter to Carl Van Vechten, July 1, 1926, James Wheldon Johnson Collection. (Reprinted from Larson, Nella (2007). Carla Kaplan, ed. Passing. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. 85. .)
In April 1927, Larsen and her husband, Elmer Imes, moved from Jersey City, New Jersey to Harlem to be closer to the cultural ferment of the neighborhood. The following year, Larsen published her first novel Quicksand with New York-based publisher Knopf. Its favorable critical reception encouraged her ambitions to become known as a novelist.
Historical context The 1920s in the United States was a period marked by considerable anxiety and discussion over the crossing of racial boundaries, the so-called "color line" between blacks and whites. This anxiety was exacerbated by the Great Migration, in which hundreds of thousands of Blacks left the rural south for northern and midwestern cities, where, together with new waves of immigrants, they changed the social makeup. The practice of persons "crossing the color line"—attempting to claim recognition in another racial group than the one they were believed to belong to—was known as "passing". As many African Americans had European ancestry in varying proportions, some appeared visibly European. (Reprinted from ) The legacy of slavery, with its creation of a racial caste, and the imposition in the 20th century of the so-called one-drop rule (by which someone with even one ancestor of sub-Saharan-African origin was considered black) led to a hardening of racial lines that had historically been more fluid; at any time, the concept of race was "historically contingent." Although the exact numbers of people who passed is, for obvious reasons, not known, many estimates were made at the time. The sociologist Charles S. Johnson (1893–1956) calculated that 355,000 blacks had passed between 1900 and 1920. (Quoted by )
A significant precedent for Larsen's depiction of Clare and Jack's relationship was the 1925 legal trial known as the "Rhinelander Case" (or Rhinelander v. Rhinelander). On the urging of his family, Leonard Kip Rhinelander, a wealthy white man, sued his wife, Alice Beatrice Jones, for annulment and fraud; he alleged that she had failed to inform him of her "colored" blood. The case concerned not only race but also status and class, as he had met her when she was working as a domestic. Although the jury eventually returned a verdict for Alice (she contended that her mixed race was obvious, and she had never denied it), it came at a devastating social cost for both parties; intimate exchanges between the couple were read out in court, and Alice was forced to partially disrobe in front of the jury in the judge's chambers in order for them to assess the darkness of her skin. Larsen refers to the case near the end of the novel, when Irene wonders about the consequences of Jack discovering Clare's racial status: "What if Bellew should divorce Clare? Could he? There was the Rhinelander case." The case received substantial coverage in the press of the time, and Larsen could assume that it was common knowledge to her readers.
Themes
Race and "tragic mulatto"
Passing has been described as "the tragic story of a beautiful light-skinned mixed-race woman passing for white in high society." The tragic mulatto (also "mulatta" when referring to a woman) is a stock character in early African-American literature. Such accounts often featured the light-skinned offspring of a white slaveholder and his black slave, whose mixed heritage in a race-based society means that she is unable to identify or find a place with either blacks or whites. The resulting feeling of exclusion was portrayed as variably manifested in self-loathing, depression, alcoholism, sexual perversion, and attempts at suicide.
On the surface, Passing conforms to that stereotype in its portrayal of Clare Kendry, whose passing for white has tragic consequences; however, the book resists the conventions of the genre, as Clare refuses to feel the expected anguish at the betrayal of her black identity and socializes with blacks for the purposes of excitement rather than racial solidarity. Scholars have more generally considered Passing as a novel in which the major concern is not race. For instance, Claudia Tate describes the issue as "merely a mechanism for setting the story in motion, sustaining the suspense, and bringing about the external circumstances for the story's conclusion."
Catherine Rottenberg argues that Larsen's novella is a prime example of race and gender norms portrayed in the US. The main characters, Irene and Clare, and their struggle with their own identification problems in the novel, help readers understand the difference between gender and race norms. These two central characters are able to pass as white women even though Irene does not fully pass over, and Rottenberg argues the difference between Clare and Irene by re-evaluating the idea of desire/identification. The misidentification Clare deals with stems from her re-connection with Irene after twelve years of not speaking. Seeing Irene sparked a desire in Clare for her to get back in touch with her African-American culture. Irene's identification trouble is associated with her need to feel safe and in control in her life, the main reason Irene chooses to pass over only on occasion. Irene doesn't want to put herself into a dangerous situation.
Class
Race is not the only primary concern in Nella Larsen's Passing. Class is also a major aspect that is simultaneously developed. Both of the main characters Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry present a strong sense of class. They also demonstrate how they cross clearly defined class borders in order to obtain more power in their life.
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