Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
On this point, I see that paragraph being from the omniscient narrator, not Irene. [...]
|
Except the narrator has not been omniscient - and isn't through the rest of this scene.
I've been discounting suicide by Clare, but I notice that the sounds following Clare's fall are described to us quite explicitly - so where is the scream? Is the "gasp of horror" from Clare or from the others? I have been assuming it was the others, beyond Bellew. But surely if Clare was pushed, or if she slipped accidentally, there would have been some sort of scream or something. A mere gasp of horror seems insufficient. The only explanation I can think of for silence on Clare's part would be suicide.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fantasyfan
I personally think that essay reveals very interesting details about the novel. Nisetich discusses the contradictions in Irene’s attitude (and I think she is certainly an unreliable narrator) and the way she herself uses “Passing” for her own ends despite the fact that she holds the binary “one drop” position to the racial question.
|
And despite having proven that even Irene herself cannot spot a part-Negro passing as white - when she failed to recognise Clare in chapter 2 (part 1).