Passing (Entire Book)

Many things in this book stood out to me, such as the inevitable result of anything red (clare stole money from her father to buy a red dress, she wore a red dress when she died/fainted), the explanations of things that don't necessarily need explanations (like that brian was looking at clare...) and yet the ambiguity of things that need to be explained (I'm still confused whether Clare died or fainted...), etc. However, the thing that reoccurred often was the child/family things. In fact, the weirdest thing about Clare was her utter lack of interest in her daughter.

The first example of this is when she's talking to Irene the first time in a while, Clare only mentions Margery as a side-note when she's inviting Irene to join them for tea. Another example of this is when Irene is trying to get Clare to leave her alone (sort of) and she says "There's your little girl, Clare. Think of the consequences to her." And Clare seems to not even have thought of Margery, even though Irene did. In addition, she sounds regretful by responding "I think that being a mother is the cruellest thing in the world." Although Irene agrees with this statement, she also brings up that Clare could lose her child if Mr. Bellew finds out. Although they are interrupted by the phone, Clare then invites herself to a function that is risking her child. Additionally, she mentions that she could "Kill Jack" and that she expects she "shall someday." Irene replies that he didn't do anything, clare was the one who put herself in that mess. Later on, Clare says that "Children aren't everything" when Irene mentions Margery again. Even later, when Irene mentions Margery, Clare says that "[Margery] is the only thing holding me back." These things do not seem very .. motherly to me.

When we first start with Irene in Chicago, Irene is searching for the present that her child wants, going in and out of shops until she's tired. By the end, she's staying away from her children because Clare is there and being adored by them. In a way, i think that Clare wished so much to be in Irene's place that she willed herself there. It took until the last parts of the book for Irene to consciously notice, and by then, it seemed too late. She can't tell Clare's husband that Clare is black, because she realizes then, Clare will have nothing stopping her to take everything that irene has. In the beginning, Irene believes that Brian is "fond" of her. Towards the end, she thinks he sees her as purely his child's mother.

There could be a lot of things the author is trying to say, but I think it may be the fact that Clare's passing always got her something, such as everything irene had, but Irene's passing made her almost lose everything. Even though Irene didn't lose everything, in the end, what did she gain? Nada.