Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
Two questions.
Since the book is entirely Irene's POV, would it have worked better as a first-person narration? I think the use of third person makes Irene less unreliable than she would have been if telling the story herself.
Passing was actually Nella Larsen's second novel, preceded by Quicksand, which was apparently more successful. Has anyone read Quicksand?
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I have not read
Quicksand.
You are probably correct that a first person telling could be more deceptive (unreliable) than this third person telling. ... But this story is quite strongly Irene's perspective, rarely lapsing into omniscient or alternative views, so there's not a lot of room for the reader to see past Irene. See also my slightly confused reaction to Clare, noted below, because I think that probably relates to this question.
In some respects I felt as if the most effective part of Larsen's writing was her ability to make me actively dislike Irene so quickly. It's a brave (or foolish?) writer that puts such a negative figure between the reader and the story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
I wasn't at all sympathetic to Claire. She didn't have to marry someone who hates people of color. She took that risk and even introduced Irene to him. Claire took the risk and it backfired on her.
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I started out with some sympathy for Clare. Part of that, I think, was a reaction to the overly judgemental Irene. But as the story progressed my sympathy waned because I came to think that Irene was right about Clare in at least some respects: Clare was manipulative, and very good at getting what she wanted.
Clare frustrated my understanding. Even though Clare says "You don’t know, you can’t realize how I want to see Negroes, to be with them again, to talk with them, to hear them laugh.", I'm never really sold on this being the reason for her behaviour. What, a sudden urge after 15 years, brought about by meeting two part-Negroes passing as white women? No, somehow it all strikes me as more of a whim, and this woman - so used to getting her own way - is happy to sacrifice everything to fulfilling her whim.
How much of my reaction to Clare was forced on me by seeing Clare through Irene's eyes, and how much exists with less bias, formed from the reported words and actions? I find it difficult to tell - because I really don't trust Irene to have told me everything I need know, not even in the third person perspective.
Ultimately I didn't like either of the women very much, and wouldn't have been upset if Clare and grabbed hold of Irene on her way out the window. (Why didn't she? Isn't anyone's reaction, upon falling, to reach out and grab at anything? We know for certain that Irene was right there to be grabbed. Maybe she did and Irene shook her off.)
I don't think Larsen wanted the reader to like these women, and that makes any message carried by the story all the more ambiguous (and things were bad enough before that realisation).