"Passing" Part Two

In the second part of this story we really get to see a softer side of Claire.  It is understood that she decided to pass because she felt accepted, worthy, and loved among whites.  But now we see that she desperately longs for the blacks again.  She wants to hear them laugh and be with them more than ever, and she tells Irene that she couldn't possibly understand her pain.  And she's right.  That was one of the points I brought up in my response paper.  Irene can't possible feel Claire's pain.  She doesn't live her life.  Irene didn't have a bad black upbringing followed by a good white one.  Irene had a good black upbringing, so why be white?  But it is shown here that Claire is passionate about her race and longs to come back, but really can't.  These visits, as Irene says, are very dangerous, and when I am done reading I'm sure I will find that Claire gets caught, because that's the only possible climax I can imagine.

If Claire was raised mostly white, and lived mostly white, why would she long for the blacks?  It must be in her blood.  There are things deep down that our souls desire, that just are.  Although she has an almost perfect belonging with the whites, she knows something is missing.  Something doesn't feel right.  It makes her squirm, cringe.  This is often the case when we are living a lie.  We don't feel whole.  We don't feel right.  Something is leaving a gaping hole in our heart and we try to fill it.

Claire tried to fill the hole in her heart with passing, but it only made it deeper.  This was only a temporary fix, because all truths will be told in the end.  Her living a lie makes her life very difficult.  Irene thinks she is too edgy, too daring, and that she faces danger.  But what she doesn't understand it why Claire doesn't care.  She is empty anyway.  What does she have to lose?  She is giving up her life and her safety for that temporary fix of happiness, when she could get it from her own race.  Claire really needs to come back, she needs to leave her pig bigot of a husband and go back to where she belongs.  To the people who love her for what she truly is, and not what she appears to be.

Until next time,

Keri Jo