Larsen contrasts Zulena and Clare by comparing the former to a piece of furniture and the latter to a shining jewel. Being able to look white is not the only important thing in Passing. Gertrude, one of Irene and Clare’s friends in the past, is another person that hides her race in the book. Coming from the same place, Gertrude is described as something completely different from Clare. Gertrude’s husband Fred is a butcher, unlike Clare’s husband John, a successful businessman. Gertrude is described as “grown broad, fat almost, and though there were no lines on her large white face, its very smoothness was somehow prematurely ageing” (Larsen 25). The different statuses of Clare and Gertrude cause Irene to distinguish them
Larsen contrasts Zulena and Clare by comparing the former to a piece of furniture and the latter to a shining jewel. Being able to look white is not the only important thing in Passing. Gertrude, one of Irene and Clare’s friends in the past, is another person that hides her race in the book. Coming from the same place, Gertrude is described as something completely different from Clare. Gertrude’s husband Fred is a butcher, unlike Clare’s husband John, a successful businessman. Gertrude is described as “grown broad, fat almost, and though there were no lines on her large white face, its very smoothness was somehow prematurely ageing” (Larsen 25). The different statuses of Clare and Gertrude cause Irene to distinguish them