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Setting
Definition of Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often... read full definition
Part 1, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Catlike Clare:
In this passage, Larsen uses a simile comparing Clare to a cat to explain her contradictory character. Thinking of the time when she used to know her in Chicago, Irene describes what it's like to be around Clare:
Catlike. Certainly that was the word which best described Clare Kendry, if any single word could describe her. Sometimes she was hard and apparently without feeling at all; sometimes she was affectionate and rashly impulsive. And there was about her an amazing soft malice, hidden away until provoked. Then she was capable of scratching, and very effectively too. Or, driven to anger, she would fight with a ferocity and impetuousness that disregarded or forgot any danger; superior strength, numbers or other unfavorable circumstances.
There’s an interesting mixture of affection and criticism in this passage, as Irene tries to reduce Clare “to a single word” when she is always two things at once. Just as a cat can blow hot and cold or be simultaneously aloof and affectionate, Clare embodies contradictions. She is never just one thing. Rather, she is "hard and apparently without feeling" yet also "affectionate and rashly impulsive." This duality in her character mirrors the concept of "passing," as Clare never fully embodies either Blackness or whiteness. Where she is determines who she is, as she navigates between different identities with different groups of people.
Related Themes:
Part 1, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Lovely Laughter:
The first time Irene encounters Clare in Passing, Larsen uses auditory imagery and a simile comparing Clare's laugh to a a delicate bell. Through this, the author demonstrates the intense, immediate charms Clare possesses:
The woman laughed, a lovely laugh, a small sequence of notes that was like a trill and also like the ringing of a delicate bell fashioned of a precious metal, a tinkling [...]
The auditory imagery brings Clare’s laughter to life for the reader, allowing them to almost hear the sound themselves. Describing it as "a small sequence of notes" and "a tinkling" makes them sense its musical quality. The sound is rare and recognizable enough that Irene knows her immediately, feeling the “tinkling” before she even sees Clare’s face. This sensory detail immerses the reader in Irene's experience, making the scene feel as immediate and real.
The similes comparing Clare's laugh to "a trill" and "the ringing of a delicate bell fashioned of a precious metal" point to the idea that Clare is a precious and unique person. By likening the laugh to something crafted from valuable metal, Larsen suggests that even Clare’s laugh has tangible, monetary value. The comparison also gives her laugh an almost inhuman aspect, as if she were something quite different than the people around her. As with many other literary devices in this novel, this metaphor is also full of parallels and dualities. Clare’s laugh differentiates her from everyone around her, setting her apart. It even sounds like two different things at once, as it is itself somehow “like a trill and also like the ringing of a delicate bell” at the same time.
Related Themes:
