Passing: Style 1 key example

Larsen's diction varies throughout the novel, shifting between highly stiff mid-century English and period-specific colloquialisms unique to Harlem. This variation in the dialogue also reflects the novel's focus on duality; even its language moves between "gray" areas into Blackness or whiteness. All of the characters in this novel are solidly middle-to upper-class, which their spoken English reflects. However, the differences in the English spoken between Black characters and the English spoken by Irene to white people when she’s passing illustrates how separate those worlds were in the American national consciousness at the time. This contrast illustrates Irene’s movement between different social worlds in a segregated society and the way it forces her to constantly question her own identity. The narrative is full of similes that compare one thing to another. These also reflect the novel’s focus on the duality of things. There are constant comparisons and judgments from Irene folded into the writing. Characters frequently assess themselves and others, revealing their prejudices and their own relationships with passing, class, and gender.