Nella Larsen Essay

Nella Larsen’s novella Passing, set in Harlem, New York City in the 1920s, tells the story of the reunion of two childhood friends, Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield, and the resulting exploration of race and finding of one’s identity. The novel is titled for the central theme of racial “passing,” enacted by Clare Kendry, who passes as white with her husband, John Bellew, serving as the catalyst to the tragic events that propel the plot. Passing is defined as “the ability of a person to be regarded

I really enjoyed “Quicksand” by Nella Larsen, it is a story about biracial woman, Helga Crane, whose mother is Danish and father is black man. Both of them are gone or dead, so she kind of have been passed around her whole life. As an adult she is looking for fulfillment and a place where she feels like she fits in. The title “Quicksand” gave me an idea about how the story works, Helga repeatedly decides to go somewhere to move on with her life and hopefully be happy, but she would eventually get

Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel, Passing, is the story of two African American women, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, living in New York in the 1920’s. However, the two women are African American by ancestry rather than outward appearance because both possess light enough skin to be able to pass for white. African Americans passing as white was a common occurrence in post-Civil War America. Passing concerns itself with themes of identity, race, belonging, and oppression, yet Larsen muddles the conventional

In Nella Larsen’s book published in 1929, she examines how different people like to convey themselves to their society in different ways. She introduces us to the two main characters, Irene and Clare. They have known each other since childhood, and get to reconnect when they meet as they became older. Each character has her own claim of identity. In Larsen’s classic, the reader observes the concept of passing, meaning the ability to live your life as something you are not fully, but can pass to be

argue about how this poem quoted at the very beginning of this novel implies the how the author express her sympathy and feeling towards their race and how she reveals the female’s inequality in the marriage. At the very beginning of book Passing, Nella Larsen quotes a poem from Countee Cullen to start her story. The poem is very short, which has only four lines. However, this short poem reveals the motif of this novel and the purpose of this writing—what is Africa to me? This question is not only an

In Nella Larsen's influential novel "Passing," the theme of racial passing takes center stage, unfolding through the lives of Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. Both characters navigate the complex passing terrain—assuming white identities despite their mixed-race backgrounds. However, their divergent approaches shed light on the intricate nature of racial identity and the profound societal implications of passing. Irene Redfield, our main character, treads carefully in her journey of identity, opting

In Passing by Nella Larsen, Irene’s encounters are traced from the perspective of a third person narrator. Third person limited narration is positioned to provide the readers with an insight into the thoughts and emotions of characters. In the novel, it stated “, An attractive-looking woman, was Irene’s opinion, with those dark, almost black, eyes and that wide mouth like a scarlet flower against the ivory of her skin” (14). With vivid imagery, the readers are given the perspective of Irene through

Nella Larsen was one of the few female American writers that were part of the Harlem Renaissance. Due to her success in both her novels Quicksand and Passing she was the first African American woman to receive the Guggenheim award in 1930. The novels took place in the late 1920’s; it focuses on the lives of African American women and their struggle of acceptance in society. In finding their own identity through race, class, and gender these two novels Quicksand and Passing show the struggles and

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

Early reviewers of Nella Larsen’s Passing focused on Clare as the protagonist. Readers reacted to her passing as white and her innate desire to return to her roots and the problems that came with it. Contemporary critics such as Mary Mabel Yeoman focus on Irene as the protagonist and her racial passing. They see her as a character that is living and behaving in an anti-black way. The change in opinion is because our society’s view of race has evolved over time, but this alone does not explain the