Quicksand And Passing By Nella Larsen Analysis

Passing clearly represents the capitalist class society of the new age. The novel makes a clear distinction between the upper, white bourgeois society and that of the perceivably lower, black society. In the article, “The Gold Standard of Racial Identity in Nella Larsen's ‘Quicksand and Passing’”, Anthony Dawahare makes the claim:
“...both novels [Passing and Quicksand] clearly represent racial identity as unavoidably shaped by the modern political economy of capitalism...wealth equals whiteness for Larsen's protagonists, and her novels expose how this reification of race operates by converting social relations of class into ontological concepts that appear natural and universal. Ultimately, her protagonists' fetishization of wealth and whiteness is motivated by the desire to become like money itself-the greatest fetish of all” (25).
The protagonist he is
Irene fits Dawahare’s argument to a “t”. He later expands on the characters’ desires to gain wealth: “...money is not just a means of an imaginary escape from commodification but also shapes the most fetishistic form of black identity-the passer for white” (32), because, “As a light-skinned mulatta, she [Clare] can opt out of the black working class by passing for white” (Dawahare 34). There are many anecdotes of both Clare and Irene exemplifying passing. Irene is the most extreme case by passing everyday and lying to those around her, most notably her husband. Even Irene, who is not passing, lives a particularly extravagant life as the wife of a Harlem doctor (albeit, he is also black). Irene passes for convenience and small pleasures. When the story begins, she passes in a restaurant in Chicago in order to have a drink and enjoy the atmosphere. She