The word passing on its own has several meanings. It expresses death when someone passes away, it describes movement when a person passes through or by something, but it could also mean passing for something. In this case, the characters describe a sensation in which they had to pass for being white – and not black. At the time, this was a movement many people of color faced, in hopes that it would allow them to go further in life. The book expresses times in which Clare and Irene subconsciously or outright “passed.” Furthermore, it delves into the idea of other people passing. Clare takes this idea and is in a sense brought up to follow through with it. After being raised by her two white, christian aunts, she knew nothing other than passing for white and evidently marrying a white man. Irene on the other hand does it without feeling her integrity as a black woman is lost. We see this especially in the beginning of the novel when she visits a hotel rooftop for tea – and hopes that the server or other customers notice she is not of white descent. Paradoxically, she exclaims her pride in marrying a black man and how she hasn’t lost sense in who she truly is. This becomes a recurring theme in the novel as it spearheads the contrast between Irene and Clare. In the end, Clare is no longer passing for, but rather passing away, as Irene becomes mad and kills her.
