Double Identity In Nella Larsen's Passing

In Peeled by Joan Bauer she uses identity in two different ways. The one way she uses it is how can our surroundings shape who we become. Another way she uses it is can first impressions be trusted. First let’s start with our surroundings shape who we are.

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is about identity. Throughout the book, Wes Moore questions why he and the other Wes Moore had such different lives, even though, they shared a name. In doing so, it caused him to look deeper into his background and himself and wonder how he ended up where he was, along with the other Wes Moore. According to Wes Moore, “As I’ve puzzled over the issue, I’ve become convinced that there are some clear and powerful measures that can be taking during this crucial time in a young person’s life” (Moore 179). He had discovered that he and the other Wes Moore had similar upbringings, but the choices he made differed from the other Wes Moore’s choices. They’ve both made decisions that influenced how their fate would end

1920’s society offered a prominent way for blacks that look white to exploit its barrier and pass in society. Visible within Nella Larsen’s Passing, access to the regular world exists only for those who fit the criteria of white skin and white husband. Through internal conflict and characterization, the novella reveals deception slowly devours the deceitful.

I choose to analysis the ethical approach of “Zora Neal Hurston’s “How it Feels to be Colored Me.” I think the author used a very unique to say how she feel about herself. I can relate to the author, when she speaks of her town, and how she didn’t realize her skin until she left her. Growing up I really didn’t know how different my skin was, until I found myself in predominate white church. For a while, people treated me differently, until they realized I was human with a great heart and attitude.

Nella Larsen brings in the discussion of race and how different individuals who identify as “black” or “white” view themselves. It talks about both the absence and presence of self through the use of the characters, Irene and Clare. In Passing, it shows how Irene identify herself as “black” but passes off as “white” in comparison to Clare who identifies herself as “white” and hence passes off as “white”. However, some critics argue that Irene portrays a sense of self through Irene’s sense of identity of being a “mother” and “black” through her community. Other critics put forth the notion that Clare portrays an absence of self through her final actions when she jumped off the window and disappears from the scene after her husband calls her a “nigger”. I will be taking a postmodern approach to the text and supplementing it with modernism and psychoanalytic theories before stating my final stance that postmodernism may be the most appropriate approach. This approach ensures that different perspectives are present in my analysis and ensures that it is not one-sided. The question that I hope to focus my argument on is “Does the postmodernist approach better emerge the idea of self from racism?”

In the reading “Son” by Andrew Solomon, horizontal and vertical identities are compared and dissected through the lenses of society’s perceptions. A vertical identity is when “attributes and values are passed down from parent to child not only through DNA, but also through shared cultural norms”, while a horizontal identity is when “someone has an inherent or acquired trait that is foreign to his or her parents” (370). Solomon being a gay, dyslexic man brought up as an anti-Jew Jew, has well delved into the controversy of the ethics between what is considered an illness versus what is accepted as an identity.

The veil can be compared to “rose-colored glasses” that provide optimism for black people who choose not to see their oppression. Yet at the same time, it harms them by encouraging black people to ignore the circumstances in which they live. Double consciousness is the belief that the African American in the United States lives with two conflicting identities that cannot be entirely merged together. The first conflicting identity is the black identity and it is the most important to the black experience. This is something that every black person has and no other race can identify with. The second conflicting identity is the American identity, which is only alive because of the circumstances of slavery. This is how black people are able to understand what life is like for people that are within and outside of their group. However, white people could never understand the black experience. Du Bois mentioned, “The exchange was merry, till one girl, a tall newcomer, refused my card,---refused it peremptorily, with a glance…”. At that very moment, he realized that he was not accepted naturally by the outside race. He was fine with having a different perspective and he did not

One will eventually come across the day where they are able to figure out who they truly are as a person. A discovery like this will lead to new chapters of life and start new beginnings. Although finding one 's identity can be difficult to understand and accept, it is crucial in life to discover oneself. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, a teenage girl, who had to overcome and deal with an awful tragedy, takes readers on the long journey she walked before finding meaning and value in who she is as a person. The journey I was taken on while reading the novel had a beneficial effect on myself, expressed significance to the world about a common topic and showed how the main character gradually changed throughout the story.

War lights the barrel keg within everyone reveling their true identity, by abandoning their past beliefs. Joseph Boyden illustrates the importance of cultural identity, throughout the novel Three Day Road. Xavier shows devotion towards his culture, by constantly trying to hold onto whatever reminded himself of it. Another character, Niska, betrays herself by abandoning her culture as a result of losing her identity. Elijah also completely strips of his cultural identity when he turns windgo. Elijah was heavily influenced by war, to stray along the wrong path. The characters change throughout the story, however many of them remain true to their cultural identity. Boyden shows that being true to one’s identity allows one to have self-discipline, and therefore they should treasure it.

According to a bibliography of Larsen, Thadious M. Davis writes, "Larsen was the daughter of a Danish mother and, apparently, a West Indian father; she frequently alluded to her "mulatto" status" (1). A mulatto is a person who is mixed with a white and black ancestry. This explains the Passing demonstrating Clare as a woman who wants to and is able to pass as a white woman. It is possible that Larsen was either able to pass as a white woman, and wrote from experience or wanted to pass as a white woman, but could not, and wrote about it what it would be like if she could. It is also known that Larsen's father passed away when she was two, and her mother remarried. Davis states, "[Larsen] provided no other information about either her natural father or her mother and stepfather. Implicit in her reticence about her background is some discomfort in being the only black member of her immediate family" (1). There must have been issues with the marriage between the marriage between Larsen's mother and Larsen's stepfather. There must have been experiences that led Larsen to write about the life that Irene and Clare were living. The characters are tired and miserable. Irene is true to herself, but is still unhappy in her relationship, and Clare is untrue to herself which brought negativity to her marriage. Larsen was a mixed woman and she must have seen things through her mother's marriage which were not positive due to race. Larsen has felt alienated and lonely due to her being the only black member in her family and that must have also had an impact on her writing Clare's character. Larsen's idea of marriage was shaped from watching her mother and stepfather come together. Irene relationship with Brian represents the lack of communication, and being resentful.

The act of racial discrimination impacts innocent people's lives in numerous, negative ways; hence why multiple people, worldwide can not tolerate racism and discrimination. The novel written by Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, displays a wide range of scenarios where racism results in suffering. Rosaleen, a black woman, will never forget how three white men negatively impact her life; she will remain scarred unto death. Also, ever since the racial incident involving April and her twin, May, pain is constantly accompanying April; consequently, she commits suicide. Finally, when May loses April, she endures all the various sufferings of the world, including racial discrimination. Based on this novel, the enforcement of racism will result in a lifetime of suffering.

In a person’s life, many situations transpire and make them feel pride over one’s self. Readers can see this in the short story,” The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. “In his spare time Hurst wrote short stories and plays, but The Scarlet Ibis was the only work of his that become famous “(gradesaver.com)”. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst uses red to symbolize warning, death, and guilt to show the change the older brother goes through, as he takes care of Doodle.

Many people may not know much in the way of their identity. The challenges can help people learn about themselves through the actions they take and what they can achieve in the face of adversity. Learning about your identity is represented quite well by Santiago in Paulo Coelho’s fantasy novel The Alchemist. The the start of the story Santiago is lost with no goal in life and has little knowledge of what it outside of the plains and towns of Spain. Then Santiago is faced with massive amounts of adversity in the form of a threat of death he learn about his identity and learns that he can face and overcome the challenge. Ultimately Santiago has developed his identity through the soul of the world and alchemy and has achieved his personal legend

Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man addresses double consciousness by directly referring to this concept, as well as W.E.B. DuBois’s concept of the veil placed over African Americans. Throughout the novel, the Invisible Man believes that his whole existence solely depends on recognition and approval of white people, which stems from him being taught to view whites as superior. The Invisible Man strives to correspond to the immediate expectations of the dominate race, but he is unable to merge his internal concept of identity with his socially imposed role as a black man. The novel is full of trickster figures, signifying, and the Invisible Man trying to find his own identity in a reality of whiteness. Specifically, Ellison’s employment of trickster

Nella Larsen’s Passing is a novella about the past experiences of African American women ‘passing’ as whites for equal opportunities. Larsen presents the day to day issues African American women face during their ‘passing’ journey through her characters of Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. During the reading process, we progressively realize ‘passing’ in Harlem, New York during the 1920’s becomes difficult for both of these women physically and mentally as different kinds of challenges approach ahead. Although Larsen decides the novella to be told in a third person narrative, different thoughts and messages of Irene and Clare communicate broken ideas for the reader, causing the interpretation of the novella to vary from different perspectives.