Characters
This character is a middle class women who navigates her identity in Harlem.
Who is Irene Redfield?
“You don’t know, you can’t realize how I want to see Negros, to be with them again, to talk with them, to hear them laugh.”
Clare
Clare is married to a white man. / Clare regrets passing. / Clare enjoys socializing in Harlem.
Truths: Clare is married to a white man./ Clare enjoys socializing in Harlem.
Lie: Clare regrets passing.
This object, received by Irene, symbolizes Clare’s persistence and her attempt to reconnect with the Black community despite the risks
What is Clare's letter?
This event occurs when Irene first hears from Clare after many years of separation.
Irene receives Clare's letters
This character lives a dangerous life of passing.
Who is Clare Kendry?
“It’s funny about ‘passing.’ We disapprove of it and at the same time condone it. It excites our contempt and yet we rather admire it. We shy away from it with an odd kind of revulsion, but we protect it.”
Irene quickly forgives Clare for her past actions. / Irene grows increasingly uncomfortable with Clare's presence. / Irene is cautious about reconnecting with Clare.
Truth: Irene grows increasingly uncomfortable with Clare's presence. / Irene is cautious about reconnecting with Clare.
Lie: Irene quickly forgives Clare for her past actions.
This location, where Clare, Irene, and Gertrude meet, symbolizes Clare’s detachment from the Black community and her immersion in white society.
What is the hotel?
What are the emotions that Irene feels towards Clare's reappearance?
Curiosity and wariness.
This character makes racial remarks and is unaware of the racial identity in his surroundings.
Who is John Bellew?
"I think that being a mother is the cruelest thing in the world."
Clare
John knows Clare is black. / John openly dislikes Black people. / Clare hides her identity from John.
Lie: John knows Clare is black.
This place represents the duality of Clare’s life, where she is both intimately familiar and dangerously distant from her Black roots.
What is Harlem?
What does Clare want from Irene?
To rebuild their friendship, for her to understand her choice to pass, and be welcomed back into the Black community.
This character is also of mixed-race heritage but chooses not to pass as white.
Who is Gertrude Martin?
“Yes, I do agree that it’s safer to tell. But then Bellew wouldn’t have married her. And, after all, that’s what she wanted.”
Irene
The novel explores racial identity. / Secrecy plays a central role in the novel. / Clare feels no regret about passing.
Truths: The novel explores racial identity./ Secrecy plays a central role in the novel.
Lie: Clare feels no regret about passing.
This object serves as a boundary between Clare’s two worlds, symbolizing the divide between her true identity and her life of passing.
What is the window?
During their first meeting, what significant change does Clare make to her life that Irene notices?
She is passing as a white women and married a white man
This character is a doctor who is often concerned with social issues, particularly racial inequality.
Who is Brian Redfield?
"Pretty soon the colored people won't be allowed in at all, or will have to sit in Jim Crow sections"
Brian
Gertrude is married to a white man. / Gertrude husband does not know she is Black. / Gertrude is uncomfortable with John Bellew’s racist remarks.
Truths: Gertrude is married to a white man./ Gertrude is uncomfortable with John Bellew’s racist remarks.
Lie: Gertrude husband does not know she is Black.
Clare’s expression is a key symbol in her interactions with Irene, often covering the tension and uncertainty that lie beneath her charming appearance.
What is her smile?
What does Clare confess to Irene?
Clare has secretly been longing to reconnect with the Black community.