Reflecting on Part One of "Passing"

In class today, we discussed the different relationships of the three main characters and how they were different from each other.  This really helped me to understand some things.  Irene was upper classed, married to a doctor, and liked to travel.  She bought her boys the best and made sure they had whatever they wanted.  Maybe that is why she didn't feel the need to "pass", even though she did without trying.  She said she didn't care that her husband and one of her sons couldn't pass, but as we keep reading maybe we will find out different.

Claire was poor.  Her mother died when she was very young, and her 1/2 black father was a drunk who beat her until he died after a bar fight.  She didn't know nice things or nice people.  She was also raised by white women (her aunts), which was probably the first time she felt loved, and wanted to do whatever she could to keep that love, even if it meant leaving her roots behind.  I didn't think about how sad and hurt she must be, and that she is the way she is because the only other option would be a very dark place.  Her husband is the first man to love her, and with her daddy issues, she will do whatever she has to to keep that love, even if it means lying to him.  I think Irene may come to realize this as we read on.

It didn't tell much about Gertrude, but she seems like the happy medium of the story.  She passes like the rest of them, but her husband knows.  She seems happy enough with it, but maybe the afternoon with Jack changed her mind.  It will be interesting to see how each of these characters lives turn out and what decisions they choose to make.  I think this story is really interesting.  I like ballsy writers.  They are the best kind.

Until next time,

Keri Jo