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Personification
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
In Passing, the settings of New York (in the present) and Chicago (in Irene’s flashbacks) are important to the novel’s narratives around identity, race, and social dynamics. The book’s primary setting is Harlem during the 1920s. During this time, which historians now call the Harlem Renaissance—a significant literary and musical epoch in Black American culture—the US saw the flourishing of Black arts, literature, and music. Irene’s neighborhood is a cultural hub of Black pride and creativity in the 20th century, which Larsen juxtaposes with the relative whiteness of the rest of Manhattan. Harlem and other areas of New York actually seem to occupy separate worlds for much of the novel, which aligns with the book’s preoccupation with duality and contrast.
The novel’s physical settings are predominantly comfortable and affluent. There are snug Harlem homes, opulent social gatherings at hotels, and lively Prohibition-era clubs and dance halls. Irene and Clare, as women who can successfully "pass," are able to transition between Black and white spaces without disrupting either community, while people like John Bellew and Brian are limited to their respective white and Black worlds.
Within this rich setting, Larsen digs into the middle-class Black American experience during this period. Her characters are constantly having to navigate the dangers of a racially segregated world while also experiencing the changing cultural landscape in this regard. Identity itself feels mutable in this novel, which is somewhat ironic, given that its characters inhabit a society that imposes rigid identity-based rules. The act of "passing," when a Black person successfully "passes" as a white person or (rarely) vice versa, is the only way to cross these boundaries.
Related Themes:
