Nella Larsens Life and Compared with her Experience with Character in Passing - Research Paper Example

? Number] Nella Larsen’s Life and compared with her experience with character in Passing Nella Larsenwas an American novelist and writer of some short stories. She was associated with the Harlem Renaissance era that has been regarded as the period of extra ordinary achievements attained in the Black American art and literature. Her literary contributions significantly reflect her philosophy of life, ideas and thoughts as well as her experiences and observations about different people and social trends prevailing in the society around herself and her community. Passing is Nella’s second novel that appeared in 1929. The novel depicts different aspects and experiences of her life and talks about her experiences and observations regarding the role of women confronting racial and sexual biasness in the society that prevent them from maintaining their identity and status (Thadious, p54). Passing contains the semiautobiographical accounts of some women struggled to attain their identities and status in the male dominated society where people were mainly judged through their skin colours. She pointed out towards the fact that the light and dark coloured blacks also had differences among them. The black movements were mainly led by the light colour blacks and the dark skinned blacks were widely rejected and oppressed by the light skinned people of their own kind. She strived to address this issue in the novel by citing the examples and experienced of different people (Calloway, p213). The main character of Passing Clare Kendery was depicted as an attractive and light skinned lady. She was a groomed lady who succeeded to get over her poverty because due to her light skin she was deemed as white. She got married with a wealthy white person. Her husband thought that she was white though actually she was not white but light skinned black. She successfully managed her marital life as a white woman however, later she met her old friend and got involved in her husband. This affair ultimately resulted in the exposure of her real roots in front of her husband. In the end of the novel Clare fall off the window because she didn’t want to face her husband who became aware of her reality. The characters of Passing are closely related with the real life of Nella Larsen due to many similarities found among Clare, Irene and Nella Larsen. Laren was also a light skinned black woman. She played active role in the black intellectual establishment due to her skin colour. On the other hand, the character of Clare’s childhood friend Irene also reflects the experiences of Nella that she faced of being a black woman. In this way, she portrays two black women in the novel living their lives in different manners. However, both of these women have to face several ups and downs in their lives due to their skin colour (Steven, p65). Larsen used the novel as a platform to express her feelings and emotions that regardless of shade of the skin, the black women have to always face the consequences of being black in terms of social equity and racial biasness and the belonging to the African roots always puts mark upon the women due to which they are treated in the society with biasness and inequity. The life experience of Larsen could be compared to that of her character Clare because like Clare, Larsen also passed for white and lived in the Harlem renaissance. However, her real African roots always keep him stick towards the problems and issues of black women and she frequently depicts their problems and miseries that they have to encounter due to the unjust and biased attitude of white society towards the blacks. However, Larsen was not agreed with the way of Clare’ life. She writes about her “nothing sacrificial in Clare Kendry’s idea of life, no allegiance beyond her own immediate desire. She was selfish, and cold, and hard. And yet she had, too, a strange capacity of transforming warmth and passion…” (Larsen, p2) Larsen conveys the message through the novel that one could not hide his real identity and roots for long time period and some day he or she has to accept the reality of the race and ethnicity. She explore the issue in detail that pretending to be white might seems better way of living for light skinned women but it is a fact that the black roots are expose some day and the black women could not live happily hiding their real identity for their entire lives. It implies that the race is not just the colour of the skin but it is in the blood of people and one could not always live overlooking his real roots. She also clarifies that the white skin or white identity is not the guarantee of the happy life because the white colour could not buy happiness, satisfaction and contentment to people (Steven, p65). Larsen expressed her own life experiences through depicting the feelings of Clare that living with false identity makes feeling out of the place. Such people could never feel like they belong to the place and people where they are living; neither had they found them free to think and express their selves. People could attain complete worry-free happiness with freedom only when they live with their own people where they don’t have to take care of each word and expression. When the black women pass as white women she has to pass very hard time to hide her cultural roots. They limited her freedom of expressing her love for her culture and heritage because they can’t expose their actual culture in front of the others. The character of Irene is also very close to the life and experiences of Larsen. She depicts Irene as a woman who occasionally passes as white when she is away from her family and wants to have some opportunities or facilities. Besides, she lives as a black woman after getting married with a black man and she views the blending of culture within one’s personality as a dangerous thing. However, the life of Irene was also not completely satisfied. Irene and her husband were not sexually happy. “If sex isn’t a joke, what is it? and what is a joke (Larsen, p45). Said says her husband Brian, after Irene has asked him to lecture her boys on not making inappropriate jokes They sleep in separate bedrooms and have little communication (Calloway, p213). The character of Irene seems more close to the life of Larsen from the viewpoint that being light skinned black; Larsen enjoys the dominating position in the Harlem Renaissance but she never hide her real identity and exposes her as a black women with light coloured skin. In this way, she never supported the idea that passing as a white woman is something very helpful and adoptable for a black women but she do emphasised upon the struggle that the black women have to put on in the society to get some dignity and respect from the people (David, p92). Larsen like Irene believes that cultural affiliation is the reality that could not be overlooked for the entire life. One can take the advantage of being looking like other race for some time or at certain occasions but for the entire life it is not a wise decision to hide the identity and live a false life to get the opportunities and social respect not granter otherwise. The character of Irene talks about the feelings and expression of Larsen that passing as a white woman often gives lot of benefits and convenience to the light skinned black however, these benefits and facilities could not last for ever and some the reality has to expose after which the life could become even more difficult for the women running away from the own cultures and roots (Steven, p65). Hence, it is revealed from the reading that passing is not just about the race, sexuality and blackness but it is all about being a woman. Larsen shows that the women have different options in front of them and depending upon the circumstances they choose what seems better to them however, on every way they have to face the sexual oppression or social and racial biasness because they could not overlook the reality of their sex, culture and race. All the character of the novel reflect the life experiences of Larsen in one way or another and conclude that race and ethnic roots are the realities of life and neglecting this reality could never make a person happy, free and satisfied with the life. The women especially have to face some difficulties in the society in their quest for making their identity in the perspective of their races. Work Cited Calloway, Licia M. Black Family Function in Novels by Jessie Fauset, Nella Larsen & Fannie Hurst. (NY: Peter Lang, 2003). Print. David Levering Lewis, When Harlem Was in Vogue (New York: Vintage, 1981). Print. Nella Larsen. Passing. NY: Courier Dover Publications, 2004. Print Steven Watson. The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920-1930 (New York: Pantheon, 1995). Print. Thadious Davis. Nella Larsen: Novelist of the Harlem Renaissance (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994). Print. Read More