Emma Lou are similar in their insecurities, self-consciousness, and in their judgment of peers. In both Nella Larsen’s Passing and Wallace Thurman’s The Blacker the Berry, these insecurities manifest themselves in unreliable narration. Furthermore, both novels use the unreliable narrative despite the use of the third person. The factual occurrences of racism that Emma experiences are portrayed objectively; however, this places the focus more on how these occurrences change her perspective on race and cause internal conflict.
After hearing students make derogatory comments about her skin color at USC, Emma’s lack of comfort in her physical appearance turns into the root cause of anything in life not going her way. It consumes her as her relationship with Weldon Taylor ends because he relocates—as Emma immediately attributes the end of this relationship to the color of her skin. A lack of comfort can be clearly recognized as a crippling insecurity when Emma assumes that a joke made during a play about dark-skinned girls was directed at her. The choice to use the third person clearly separates fact from personal view, while providing a strong commentary on the psychological consequences of racial prejudices.
