An Essay On The Character Of Irene Redfield

Clare Kendry in Larsen’s Passing, is a very complex character. She is an African American woman, who is “passing” as a white Caucasian. It all started when her Dad died when she was little, and was taken to her white aunts. Her aunts treated her like she was the help, so this made her want to be wealthy when she is older. Irene is her childhood friend, who saw Clare go through her tough times. They grew apart for a while, but met up in Chicago a couple of years ago. Clare has made herself an outsider through her actions. She is an outsider because she tries to pass as a Caucasian, uses her friends for her own benefit, and secretly wants to get back to her cultural roots.

Characters, in Heidi Durrow’s The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, force the protagonist, Rachel, to choose between her white and black side. They only acknowledge her black side while only celebrating her white qualities. Consequently, Rachel feels the obligation to accept the roles that have been thrust upon her and ignores part of her race because of the commentary from her family and peers. Rachel adapting to the portrayal of her racial identity to appeal to the normalized opinions of her appearance, demonstrates her tendency to comply with the categorization people of color face throughout society. Ultimately, leading Rachel to pick and choose the parts of her racial identity that most please the people she is with.

In Nella Larsen’s Passing: A Problem of Interpretation, Claudia Tate argues that race “is not the novels foremost concern, but is merely a mechanism for setting the story in motion” (344). Tate’s decision to focus on the “psychological ambiguity” (343) of the novel forbids her to elaborate on the relation between race and social class. As a result, I disagree with certain statements from Tate’s argument due to the lack of acknowledging the issue regarding race and social class. Tate initially claims that Irene’s understanding of race becomes a concern “when the impending exposure of Clare’s racial identity threatens to hasten the disruption of Irene’s domestic security” (Tate 344). However, Irene’s fear of being spotted as a

When Irene finally realizes that this woman is Clare, someone who chooses to “pass” and hide all traces of her black heritage, Irene’s opinion of her changes. She no longer wants to be involved with Clare in any way, and “had no desire or intention of making the slightest effort about Tuesday. Nor any other day for that matter. She was through with Clare Kendry.” (p. 31) Irene is appalled that someone can so easily throw away her background just for the sake of gaining privilege over another race. When Clare asks her if she had ever thought of passing, Irene replies, “No. Why should I? You see, Clare, I’ve everything I want.” (p. 28) She is happy with what she has, not even having to give up anything to get there. Or at least that’s what she convinces herself to believe. Irene is again hypocritical in her beliefs. Even when she opposes Clare’s view of passing, she is still very interested in the idea. “The truth was, she was curious. There were things she wanted to ask Clare Kendry. She wished to find out about this hazardous business of ‘passing’…” (p. 24) She even admitted that she held for her “a fascination, strange and compelling.” (p. 28) Irene doesn’t seem to be able to decide if she accepts passing as reasonable. She forces herself to disagree with passing, allowing her to hate Clare for doing it. This shows us that sexuality and race are two matters that conflict with each other, at least in Irene’s opinion. She uses race to

The main plot of “Passing” focuses on two light-skinned black women, Irene Redfield and her old time friend Clare Kendry. Both women can “pass” as white women. Irene who is married to a successful African-American doctor, passes only when it is

Irene and Brian’s marriage symbolized the different roles of women and men in their home. Although she told Clare that she had all the things she wanted and that did not need to ‘pass’ as white, Irene still struggled with her marriage and the control

Some skeptics such as Audre Lorde: may, argue that the focus of Larsen’s novella focused primarily on the juxtaposition of race and sexual identity of Black feminism in the early twentieth century. However, Larsen makes use of unstable identities that can been seen through the passage via Brian Redfield and John Bellew. The husbands’ envelope the extent of male privilege and contrarily shows their means of working against it. By exploring these men, it offers a more critical view to understanding Clare and Irene

As a writer, Ann Petry is known to use her own experiences, racial incidents, and aspects of family life in her novels and short stories that adds to their richness and culturally authenticity. Similarly, to the narrator in her short story The New Mirror, Petry came from a family of pharmacist, and lived as a black minority in a small town. Due to Petry’s middle class status, she was more shielded from racial wage inequality then most African Americans but as The New Mirror displays, nothing serves as a shield to the psychological effects of racism.

Passing by Nella Larsen revolves around two light-skinned African American women who deal with the social duality of their skin tones. Passing is defined as when a mixed or light-skinned black person poses as a white person. Larsen deals primarily with the issue of colorism which is a form of discrimination by which individuals with lighter skin tones are treated better than individuals with darker skin. The discussion of passing can be noted in the two main characters, Irene and Clare. Irene Redfield, the main character, is a well-known member of the Harlem community. Clare, unlike Irene chooses to "pass" as white. Throughout the novel, the reader is made aware of the psychological battle of these two women and black women in general, as well as the social benefits and consequences of passing. Larsen details the undesirability of dark skin in 1920s American culture, a stigma that persists even today; both within white America and ironically, the African American community itself.

Although Irene feels that there is "nothing sacrificial in Clare's idea of life, no allegiance beyond her own immediate desire," it is apparent that Clare's desire to return to her African American race is honest, even if the motives seem rather one-sided (Larsen 144). Irene considers Clare to be "selfish, cold and hard" (Larsen 144). Irene also feels that Clare does not have "even in the slightest artistic or sociological interest in the race that some members of other races displayed…[She] cared nothing of the race, she only belonged to it" (Larsen 182). This may be true, but it does not diminish Clare's own pain at having to deny her African American heritage, and her desire to return to it. Irene represents a portion of society who feel that people who pass must have a morally acceptable reason to return to their African American roots such as a desire to rebel against a white society that has forced them into the role of a white person. Just because Clare feels "no permanent allegiance to either the black or white worlds or any of the classic anguish of the tragic mulatto" does not mean that she is not a tragic mulatto (Washington 48). In her own way, "Clare Kendry belongs with that group of tragic mulattos…emerg[ing] as an individual, not as a stereotype" (Davis 98). Because she wants to return to her own race on her own terms illustrates her individuality in the face of the

The concept of judging other individuals based on their looks and class status is a reflection seen within Flannery O’Connor’s short story called “Revelation.” In this story O’Connor illustrates a women who is extremely arrogant, and believes that she is superior to others because of her white skin and wealth. This

In Passing, Clare and Irene two light-skinned African American woman, try to pass for white in a segregated society. Irene infrequently passes while Clare who is biracial, lives a boastful life by identifying herself as a white woman (so it seems). Irene on the other hand strives to

Passing” by Nella Larsen is a great piece of art, that is mostly concentrated on the act of passing as a member of other race in order to assimilate with them and cover their own race. I have to be honest through reading the book I developed love hate relationship because how this book was structured. It is filled with really charismatic personalities such as Claire Kendry or Irene Redfield but at the same time I was really frustrated how they behave themselves regarding their race. For someone who never had any conflicts regarding race it was really hard for to rationalize Clare’s or Irene’s actions that involved covering their own identity to benefit from it either socially or financially. Book still lacks clarity in most of the cases that happen in story, for example ending where Clare dies but it might be also seen as way for reader to think and guess who might be the murderer. Even though this story takes place in the early 20th century when the African American society was still harshly treated by white society, I think we can still see a lot of racial conflicts that happen nowadays among all races that live in big cities such as New York or Paris and etc. Also, depiction of how race might be sign of belonging to specific class was interesting topic. Most importantly what frustrates me most in the story is how racial difference is troubling or forcing characters act in specific ways. By that I mean how Clare went extra mile and even married a white bigot John Bellew

Setting is an important feature of novels. This narration takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1960. A time that saw the segregation of black people and the dominance of white people in the southern United States. In this novel the setting of 1960’s Jackson, Mississippi exposes significant themes such as racial discrimination, social partiality. The setting also supplies decisive insight into character inspirations and views.

Irene wants to control her relationship with Clare and seems frustrated as she loses control when Clare is around. One occasion, Irene tries hard not to accept Clare’s invitation to meet her but ends up going. Later, Irene’s anger goes away just by the power of Clare’s smile, "And under her potent smile a part of Irene's annoyance with herself fled”. This constant loose of power makes Irene vulnerable and the possible affair between Clare and Brian gives Irene a motive for hating her instead of admitting her lesbianism and losing the life she has worked so hard to build.