Stuck In-Between

“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 ponders why she should feel loyal to her race in the first place because that’s what, “bound and suffocated her.” This could mean a variety of things for Irene. Irene may feel as if the fact that she is still a black woman makes her subject to prejudice and judgement. Her race prevents her from living in a white world and also is a source of constant fear of being discovered while in the white world. Irene resents that there has to be a distinction between race considering she’s caught in the middle. If she were to immerse herself in the white community, she would be leaving her black heritage behind and if she were to stay in the black community she would be missing out on all the privileges of the white community. Her race in a sense has trapped her, stuck between two different worlds and how she can fit into them. Whatever path Irene chooses ultimately leads to some part of her being let down and dissatisfied because she’s equally immersed in two different places. There’s no way for Irene to win.

The grammatical styling of this paragraph is reflective of Irene’s feelings as well. Her thoughts are sporadic and fragmented. Irene is confused and angry, her thoughts aren’t clear. She’s constantly comparing two allegiances, two different worlds, two different selves and two different colors.  

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 9, 2017 at 11:22 AM

    This is a great analysis of, and look into, the mindset Irene, as we are mainly given description of the occurrences in her life and her reactions. I personally found myself confused by Irene's actions and reactions, not understanding the root of her anger and jealousy of Clare. I think this analysis and realization of her emotions in light of her calm and content demeanor in the beginning, prior to Clare's introduction to the story, leads us to the conclusion that Clare represented an option for Irene to take- to leave the black community and gain the luxuries of life as a white woman- that she had not previous realized or considered. Faced with this option, Irene became torn. She had accepted her life as it is and her identity as a black woman so being faced with this alternate lifestyle, she spiraled with uncertainty. Her structure in life was crumbling and the only way to regain it was to close the door on the option, and in doing so, she felt she had to remove Clare in general.

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