Passing: Symptomatic

In my views, passing is when the external appearance and to a certain extent behavior of a person unintentionally or intentionally passes for another race and/or identity.

This idea of passing is well interwoven within the text of Symptomatic. Perhaps I wasn't at all focused on the protagonists race; I was more inclined to her story than her history.  I hadn't a clue that she was biracial, I assumed she was white who liked black men from time to time, however it wasn't until she interviewed Ivers Greene where I got that "oh" moment. That moment where I finally realized she was more than just white.

""Can I ask you a question? "Yeah." He whispered it. "Are you a quadroon?" " (104)

Her reaction to this question  made it clear that she had more to her story than I assumed. She surprisingly looked away and drank her wine as if she just swallowed a bulky pill. It made it all clear as to why she didn't  like Andrew's friends therefore leaving Andrew. It made sense when Andrew told her he couldn't remember what she looked like. He says:

"In all the months I've known you, I've never been able to remember what you look like. Isn't that bizarre? I used to think it was a good thing, the suspense I felt going to meet you in public--this completely irrationally fear I had that I might not recognize you. But it's something else isn't it?" (35)

Unlike the novel, Passing by Nella Larsen,  the protagonist's persona is not in full display as Irene's was, at least in my opinion. When Irene had  encountered Clare in Chicago, the conversation between the two helped me to discover Irene was indeed a light African American woman. However, the protagonist's, or "Rocky" as Greta calls her, race is explained  by what she sees because though it in first narrative, she neglects to mention anything about her being black or biracial. (Or I just plainly overlooked it.) Irene and "Rocky"  are similar because they do not blatantly profess they're racial identity yet when put in the situation where their race is belittled by others or made fun of they silently suffer in anger. They only reveal themselves when asked.

Greta was passing in different aspects of the word. Not only did she pass as white but she passed as a different person entirely by changing her identity. She reminds me of Clare, an unsatisfied, dysfunctional woman who was unable to cope with her biracial identity therefore behaving psychotically; hurting not only themselves but those who associated with them. They both were going through life finding acceptance from their multiracial world.

The Window

Clare Kendry is a character with a nearly agonizing desire to be accepted by both African Americans and Whites. Though, she is very frustrating to read about, flustering my attitude towards her, I cannot help but feel pity for the woman. The way in which Clare died represents her entire persona. She was a woman trapped by walls of judgement, need of acceptance, rejection, having a single window be her escape.

The window represented and her overview living; she was living in deep constraints, watching, living, breathing her way of life from a distance. The window was supposed to be her freedom, her way of connecting with Irene and Jack, connecting with passing and acceptance, connecting with black and white. However, she she lived a grey life, not fully living white, not fully living black, envious of Irene's ability accept herself as a "Negro;" deprived of life in its entirety. She was hazardous to herself and others around her because of that state of living.

"But it's true, 'Rene. Can't you realize that I'm not like you a bit? Why, to get the things I want badly enough, I'do anything, hurt anybody, throw anything away: Really, 'Rene, I'm not safe" (124, Kindle).

Standing by the window, Clare in way, had her both worlds connected to her but not to each other. She was at a dance surrounded by the African American race, her husband, though viscous, fully aware of her true identity. Had only her worlds connected with each, accepting each other the way she desired Clare wouldn't have passed on that night. She finally passed into world accepting of her state of being, dead.

The Jungle Beneath

In chapter 19 of Beloved, Stamp Paid contemplates how the system of slavery made the Whites believe the interior of Blacks laid a jungle; more like bestiality.

"White people believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle. Swift unnavigable waters, swinging screaming baboons, sleeping snakes, red gums ready for their sweet white blood." (234)

I brought up this quote because it has a similar message was brought up by Harriet Jacobs in chapter 10 of Incidents of a Slave Girl.

"Pity me, and pardon me, o virtuous reader! You never knew what it is to be slave; to be entirely unprotected by law or custom; to have the laws reduce you to the condition of a chattel, entirely subject to the will of another."

Both texts go into detail about the perception of Whites towards blacks during slavery. Blacks were seen as animals, they had no value, no self-definition. So of course, looking upon them outside of the slavery system they were seen to be jungle like. A kind of people that did and acted in unethical ways. Some examples would be when Linda Brent slept with Mr. Sands in order to infuriate and frustrate her master, Dr. Flint, or how Sethe slashed her own daughter's throat in order to free her from the life of slavery. These acts are morally mind boggling but these were humans that were deprived of humanity. Slaves did what they could to escape, to define themselves, to establish a family, and to be known they were to be treated equally. Of course they had a jungle beneath their "dark skin." They had no choice but to act that way since Whites pushed, forced, and encouraged that beast like behavior.

These texts reveals a state of insomnia, not physically but metaphorically speaking. Slaves were subjected to the will of others, there was no resting from that will. They lived day and night pondering their freedom, wondering when they would actually get a good nights sleep. Sethe was able to to create a life of domesticity for herself and her children yet the past tends to taunt and haunt her present. Linda was not so lucky' because of her re-enslavement she had yet to fulfill her dream of owning home for her and her children to delight in. These insomniac elements continues to leave a jungle beneath.