Claire's Passing

I was really shocked by the ending of the novel Passing. I could sense something bad was going to happen at the end of the book, but I predicted that it were to be Claire and Bryan running away together. The entire novel, I was convinced that the two would disappear together, leaving Irene alone with her sons because motherhood had been so important to her the whole time. However, as soon as Irene opened the window, and Dave escorts her away from it, I could sense that someone was going to have an accident. I personally believe that Claire had planned her death, she had always wanted to be free, it was the one thing I felt she was missing from her life. Then she told Irene that she would do anything to get what she wanted, no matter who she hurt in order to do so. This is the point where I believe that Claire had planned her own death, because she knew that there was a good chance John would kill her if he found out she was black. She wasn't afraid to leave her family behind, in order to get the freedom she had longed for. By pinning her death on the chaos of John's appearance at the party, she could get away with her own freedom, and not have it pinned on herself as a suicide. In my personal opinion, I think that Claire 'fell' out of the window on purpose as a way to spite John one last time in his fit of rage.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What We Hunger For: Deep Thoughts

"Just because you survive something does not mean you are strong." To be completely honest, this story was one that I could almost watch in my head. Perhaps part of that was because it was written vividly with strong imagery and diction; perhaps because I could see a reflection of myself in Gay's story. This year has been a transformative one for me, as I have learned to become more self-aware and acknowledging that there is immense power in naming our struggles. I am consistently told by my friends how "strong, courageous, and unfuckwithable" I am... which, I think, genuinely stems from my inability to be comfortable. I've survived too much. I've been exposed to and made it through too much... and apparently, the fact that I managed to make it "out" of those immediate situations is seen as strong. However, I am very thankful that Gay made the comment above. To me, I've always seen strength as how people cope with the long-term effects o...
Read more

A word is a word is a word

In "Bad Feminist: Take One," Gay opens up about her inner quarrels regarding her identification as a feminist. This is something I, too struggled with. At the time, the term was gaining a less than popular connotation, with a minority of the movement taking it upon themselves to spread their isolated belief that women rise above the equilibrium of society; they are superior to men and all men are inherently awful. It is easy to understand, then, why a young girl that does not share these extreme views and stereotypes may not want to be a placed beneath a spot light during such a tense situation, and would subsequently ditch the term. Ditching the term, for me at least, did not mean that I lost my way and would slowly evolve into the submissive, modest, and good woman deemed to be the ideal. Although, ditching the term is controversial and some may see it as a betrayal to the movement executed by a ‘ bad ’ woman. If the individuals remains true to their beliefs and conti...
Read more

Building Each Other Up

In Gay's essay, "How to be Friends with Another Woman" she talks about the competitiveness between women. Almost anything is fair game when it comes to tearing one another down behind each other's backs. But why is this necessary? We're all in the same position when it comes down to it. In order to rise above our oppressors, we must stop judging other women so harshly, and start building them up. We are all guilty of passing judgement over other women who are dressed differently than us, or like the same guy as us. Everything has become such a competition, that we are unable to realize the benefits of helping one another become the best version of themselves.
Read more