Fall 2017 Gender, Identity, and Literature

This close-reading is focused on Clare ’ s statement in part 2 that Irene is better than her in that Clare “ would do anything and hurt anyone to get what she wants. ” This follows Clare ’ s apology for teasing Irene regarding her view on motherhood. I find that Clare ’ s statement is false. Although their desires are different, both women are willing to do anything to attain them.             We see throughout the story thus far that Clare desires the best of both the white and the black community. She does so through the relationships she forms.   confesses that her marriage to her husband provides her with luxuries like wealth, as he is white and she is passing. In other instances, we see Clare desperately trying to establish friendship with Irene, and are informed by her letter that her motive is to regain acceptance in the black community. It is obvious after the tea party with Irene and Gertrude, in which John voices h...

This week we have been talking about Passing, which I find absolutely fascinating. To me, it is a more messed up, twisted version of Harry Potter, where Irene lives in two worlds and passes when she needs to. However, whenever I think of Clare, I think of a girl who left everything behind and didn't think about the reprocutions of that decision. I think of a girl who was uncomfortable in her own skin due to her aunt's oppressive authority over her, which led her to want to be pass for good. Irene is the type of girl who is very stubborn and set in her own ways, and as soon as Clare, this beautiful, manipulative enigma comes into play, Irene is sent in spirals. Irene is very suspicious of her husband having an affair with Clare, and constantly asks him if she think she is attractive (and other questions of that sort.) At the beginning, I portrayed Irene as this mother who did what she needed to for her family, but as the novel progresses she becomes really insecure and materiali...

Blog no. 12       11/29               Clare and Irene                 The friendship between Clare and Irene (here we will assume that it is platonic) reveals Nella Larsen’s main purpose of the novel about defining black heritage. When the two friends reunite in Chicago, and it was time for Clare to go, it was stated:             “A moment passed during which she was the prey of uneasiness. It had suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t asked Clare anything about her own life and that she had a very definite unwillingness to do so. And she was quite well aware of the reason… “Please, not so soon, ‘Rene,” Clare begged, not moving. Irene thought: “She’s really almost too good-looking. It’s hardly any wonder that she—” (13-14). Irene spent her childhood in Chicago, but move...

“She was caught between two allegiances, different, yet the same. Herself. Her race. Race! The thing that bound and suffocated her. Whatever steps she took, or if she took none at all, something would be crushed. A person or the race. Clare, herself, or the race.” This quote in the book follows Irene’s belief that Clare is having an affair with her husband. Irene is extremely angry and debates ways in which she can permanently get rid of Clare and get her out of her life. As Irene thinks more about this, however, she becomes torn between where her allegiance should lie. Irene is stuck in the middle between herself and her race, not knowing what one she should be loyal to. In many ways, she owes an allegiance to Clare because they’re, in a sense, the same. They both have light enough skin to be able to pass thus they both share the secret of their race. If Irene were to rat out Clare to her white, racist, husband it would be as if she’s betraying herself. On the other hand, Irene...