Clare's Personality (#10)

The passage that I decided to closely analyze this week comes from Part 2 of Passing. Clare is described in a negative light and the bad attributes that she has are discussed. The author states, “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 folk as well" (Larsen 51). I think that Nella Larsen provides a lot more insight to how Clare is portrayed. Clare, although she is passing as a white woman and can get whatever she wishes, aspires to have anything that she does not already have. This can go as far as being a part of another racial community while simultaneously being in the one she is already is in. Clare thinks that she has the authority to pick and choose where she belongs due to her prestige.

 To be completely honest, I am not a big fan of Clare (nor do I think many people in the class are!). She constantly whines but ends up getting what she wants anyway. She constantly goes back and forth with what she wants. What makes me the most angry about Clare is that she wants to be a part of a community that she gave up when she decided to pass, but she does not admit it to her white friends back home, and especially not to her white, racist husband. I think that it could be okay for Clare to embrace her true culture, but she is caught up in such a lie with her husband and perfect "white" life that she does not want to fully admit that she does. If Clare would just own up to who she is, I think that a lot of Clare's nasty personality would diminish, even if it would consequently cause family strain. Overall, I believe that it would have a positive impact on her life since she would not be married to a racist, terrible person and she could be truly herself.

Comments

  1. Raquel GorresDecember 4, 2017 at 2:56 PM

    I also had a problem with Clare’s tendency to whine and cry every time she didn’t get what she wanted. It’s very manipulative of her and she knows it, but yet she doesn’t seem to want to stop. She seems to only care about herself, and basically just disregards everyone else and their feelings. She also kind of acts as if she’s better than everyone else and that’s why everyone should bend over backwards to give her what she wants.

    It also bothers me that she gave up caring about her black heritage to pass as white, but now wants to “be black again.” I just get this feeling from her that she’s viewing the black community like animals and she just finds it fun to be immersed in a culture unfamiliar to her. It doesn't seem like she really cares about the community in a way that someone in the community would.

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