Passing Strange - Personal Statement Example

Passing Strange al Affiliation) Passing Strange Passing Strange narrates a peculiarly American story of a blue-eyed American, who cultivated the impression of a black man for thirteen years. Indeed, Clarence Rivers King married a black woman named Ada Copeland under the disguise that he is a black porter and steelworker named James Todd (Sandweiss, 2010). Notably, Clearce King loved Ada Copeland though he lied to her about his identity up to his deathbed. The novels depict a love story between a black woman and a white man who shared their lives when racial and economic discrimination was alive in America.

We can see how King was persistent and consistent in pursuing Ada during their dating days. King would wait for long to link up with Ada on the street or find some private time to meet Ada alone at her workplace (Sandweiss, 2010). Before meeting Ada, King would stay for a while, enjoy the good times of an affair, and disappear in mysteriously as soon as he is satisfied. However, in Ada’s case, he made and kept a marriage commitment till his death. Apparently, Ada and King fell quickly and madly in love as portrayed further by the love letters Clarence wrote to Ada suggesting a man in intense love with his woman (Sandweiss, 2010).

Even though King was always struggling to remain financially stable, he would always keep his wife opportunistic and always provided for his wife and five children even as he lived a double life. Indeed, in the trial that happened 30 years after King’s death, Ada sought to recover the trust fund that King promised her before his death (Sandweiss, 2010). From Ada King’s attorney, we learn that King had mandated his friend Gardiner to sell his immense collection of artwork upon his death and deposit the proceeds in the trust fund to support Ada and the children (Sandweiss, 2010).

It is also clear that King only revealed his true identity to Ada on his deathbed manifesting the love and trust he had to his wife. Before meeting Ada Copeland, Clearce King shared the love with his male friends like Daniel Dewey and James Gardiner who they had intimate relationships (Sandweiss, 2010). However, King reserved his love for Ada upon their marriage. Indeed, King developed credible reasons to absent himself consistently from his friends company as he lived a secretive double life.

Consequently, most of his friends thought he was a senior bachelor as he lived in hotels and clubs alone. King manifested a deep love commitment to his wife though in secret. Apparently, Ada was reciprocating the love as she found autonomy in a middle-class household where she lived with Clarence (Sandweiss, 2010). No other man had managed to give her such autonomy. King had made the effort to assert his love to Ada even though there were no legal documents to prove their marriage. He organized a shadowy marriage at Ada’s aunt resident witnessed by relatives and neighbors and presided over by a minister (Sandweiss, 2010).

However, over the years, it is evident that King hid his love for his wife and their children. The author asserts that Clarence Rivers King loved Ada Copeland, and she loved him too (Sandweiss, 2010). Reference Sandweiss, M. A. (2010). Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line. London: Penguin Books.