Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Passing
This is an interesting story as we are now seeing the lives of two black women who live an affluent lifestyle different from the one we've seen lived by blacks of this era in other works from other authors. The familiar theme of passing for white when one truly knows them self to be black is an intriguing deception brought about with considerable ease by Claire and Irene. Claire especially, married to a white racist and having a child with him. The psychological effects this has on her are the most interesting to see, as she lives this lie day in and day out and longs to be with blacks once again and almost risks everything to be with other members of her race again. I'm looking forward to future developments.
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5 comments:
I am wondering as well if Clare will abandon her white racist husband to be part of the African American socitey. I also wonder if this will cause her any danger if she does leave her husband and admitt that she is African American. I guess in a way I'm also very surprised because I would think after all that Clare went through to pass as white and live the life she is living, she would want to continue without any harm to her or her family. Maybe she is realizing it isn't all about the money and "class", its about who you are and where you came from.
I think that it is interesting to see two different ways that two different black women are passing. The phychological effects are going to be interesting because she does live as awhite women day in and out. She is trying to getbsck to her black roots for example with the NWL dance. So it definitly having a phchological wear on her.
Claire does indeed have the itch to be back in the swing from the african americans she is blood bonded to. I wonder if she still wants to pass as white? If she doesnt it may be that her white racist husband just turned her off. Too bad she didnt get anice white guy who would accept that part of her that is black so she can embrace being both black and white... this isnt elementary school gym class why should she have to pick teams? I guess that is the point of the book and the time...things have changed in many senses thank god for the the mixed raced people of today who can have a better shot at embracing their true identity !
I find her marrying a racist white person to be her way of escaping. She had to survive and get away from her aunts. This allowed her to do so and even though it forsaked her race, sometimes you have to do what you have to do to survive. She later on feels bad about it, but at the time it was the only possible thing to do.
It is interesting to see trade-offs involved in 'passing' full-time the way Clare does. We never get a real sense of what Clare is thinking and feeling over the course of the novel. This makes me wonder whether Clare truly feels that the advantages gained by passing have been worth it or if the disadvantages she finds (missing having black friends, etc) would be enough to make her give up the life that she built.
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