Analysis Of Passing By Nella Larson
Passing by Nella Larson is a novel that explores the idea of black women being able to pass as white. The main character Irene is often stuck in the dichotomy of action and inaction but often chooses not to follow through with what she wants. Irene encounters Claire (a friend from twelve years ago) and her white husband, John Bellow, at a party. In this encounter, she learned that John is a racist who thinks that Claire is a white woman. Irene is talking using very emotional and descriptive language, saying Claire, Gertrude and herself were sitting “unruffled [but they were] seething with anger, mortification, shame” (Larson 32). This shows that Irene is in an emotional state, she is feeling a lot of emotions and is going through a lot on first
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The first sentence is very long. It is broken up by commas but is one sentence. This sentence shows how Irene likes to fixate on one thought. It shows that after Irene had a moment of action she is criticizing what she did. The repetition of the word, too, shows that she thinks she went too far. The novel reads, “She had been too hasty… [and she] had rushed too closely” (46). Irene is negatively criticizing what she has done. By seeing everything that she has done wrong in acting upon her emotions, she is persuading herself to continue to stay in the realm of inaction. The next sentence is extremely short. The text reads “She had but to wait” (46). The sentence is contrasting the previous sentence. By contrasting the first sentence by making this sentence short is highlighting the second sentence. This sentence emphasizes her inaction. According to this text, Irene can do nothing but wait. By saying she had only one thing to do and that was to wait, it makes it clear in Irene’s mind that she had no other possibility other than waiting. Inaction for Irene is a default. Irene is passive and doesn’t go after what she wants but lets it pass or find her. The novel reads, “Another more appropriate time would come, tomorrow, next week, next month” (46). She can’t find the time to tell Brian, the time to tell Brian will show up or come and then she will decide to do it then. In the first and last sentence
The first sentence is very long. It is broken up by commas but is one sentence. This sentence shows how Irene likes to fixate on one thought. It shows that after Irene had a moment of action she is criticizing what she did. The repetition of the word, too, shows that she thinks she went too far. The novel reads, “She had been too hasty… [and she] had rushed too closely” (46). Irene is negatively criticizing what she has done. By seeing everything that she has done wrong in acting upon her emotions, she is persuading herself to continue to stay in the realm of inaction. The next sentence is extremely short. The text reads “She had but to wait” (46). The sentence is contrasting the previous sentence. By contrasting the first sentence by making this sentence short is highlighting the second sentence. This sentence emphasizes her inaction. According to this text, Irene can do nothing but wait. By saying she had only one thing to do and that was to wait, it makes it clear in Irene’s mind that she had no other possibility other than waiting. Inaction for Irene is a default. Irene is passive and doesn’t go after what she wants but lets it pass or find her. The novel reads, “Another more appropriate time would come, tomorrow, next week, next month” (46). She can’t find the time to tell Brian, the time to tell Brian will show up or come and then she will decide to do it then. In the first and last sentence