White Passing in the Novel "Passing"

The novel Passing, by Nella Larsen, is centered around a white-passing African American woman named Irene, or “Rene.” Two other women, Clare and Gertrude, grew up with Irene and are also white-passing. However, the two women have married white men, where Irene has not. Throughout part one of Passing, we see that the women have disdain for their African American identity and try to hide it the best they can.

Light-skinned, ivory people of color have been deemed more attractive throughout history due to white oppression of the black community; through colonization and slavery, for example. In Jamaica, people would try and bleach their skin in order to have a lighter complexion. The women in Passing pass as white women. However, each woman represents a different degree of internalized oppression.

Clare has practically denounced her black heritage, and you can not blame her due to the oppression she has faced and the political climate. Clare is married to a wealthy white man, who often uses racial slurs and says that African Americans will never be apart of his family, little does he know that his wife is not white. Gertrude is also married to a white man, however, he knows of her black heritage and that she is not white. Her husband does not seem to care. However, after they had twins they decided to not have any more children because they may have darker skin. Irene is the only one married to a black man. However, in public places, she too would prefer if people did not figure out that she was black. Irene also gets very tense and uncomfortable when Clare’s husband uses racial slurs. The three women represent different levels of internalized oppression in regards to their race.

The three women have been granted a blessing in the society they live in, yet at the same time, it is a great burden because they have to hide a part of who they are. At the end of part one, Clare sends Irene a letter. Clare expresses to Irene that Irene’s life is better than her own because she chose to marry a black man because she has chosen to not bury that part of herself.