The Harlem Renaissance was an enlightening period of time for African-Americans. A time where African-Americans embodied and celebrated their race, heritage, and culture despite the discrimination and negativity they faced. However in these times, there were a great deal of African-Americans who desired to “pass” as white to gain the privileges they could not access. In the novel Passing by Nella Larsen, its main protagonist, Irene Redfield, demonstrated a clear disapproval of “passing” in the beginning of the book. As she learns about her friend’s life while passing, her negative opinions on the subject are only affirmed, as her friend and rival’s husband is an extremely racist man that is oblivious to the fact that his wife is a passing woman. …show more content…
Irene considers all that Clare has done to erase her past. These actions are deeply offensive to Irene. Irene believes that Clare’s decision to pass not only involved betraying her past and everyone she knew, but also disregarding the interests of everyone else and thinking only of herself. “It roused again that old suspicion that Clare was acting, not consciously, perhaps that is, not too consciously but, none the less, acting. Nor was Irene inclined to excuse what she termed Clare's downright Selfishness,” (pg. 52). After Irene has returned to Harlem, she prepares for a dance that she is putting on. She receives a letter from Clare. Irene observes Clare’s actions and disregard and realized that Clare is a very selfish person. This is problematic if she wants to return to her roots, as she would need to focus on repairing relationships with other people. Irene refuses to respond for fear that Clare would want to return to Harlem. "I can't help thinking that you ought not to come up here, ought not to run the risk of knowing Negroes," (pg. 65). Irene explains to Clare that she didn’t want to risk John knowing about Clare’s true identity. However, this also indicates that Irene does not want Clare in Harlem. Clare has gone to too much trouble to erase her past, Irene believes that she should not be able to return to something she tried so desperately to escape. Clare’s disregard for others was needed to pass, however, if one wants to return to their roots, this selfishness will be a major obstacle and will prevent one from returning to their