Part 1: Encounter

Notes:
The most important thing to be aware of in this section is the subtlety of Larsen's writing. For example, we do not even learn that Irene is black until she becomes nervous when Clare is watching her at the Drayton. This writing style is significant, and clever, because it is also not obvious to anyone else that Irene or Clare are African American. Larsen rarely tells the reader anything directly. Another example of this is how we learn about Clare's past: through Irene's recollection of a conversation she and Clare had two years prior.

The other significant aspect of Larsen's subtle writing is the conflicted nature of Irene's feelings toward Clare. Because Irene is this story's narrator, all descriptions of Clare are filtered through her perception. Thus the reader has access to Irene's preoccupation with Clare's physical features: her eyes (especially), but also her golden hair, her white skin, and her alluring lips. Scholars such as Ann duCille and Deborah McDowell have suggested that Irene's fascination with Clare's physical features, as well as the love/hate relationship she develops with Clare, implies latent lesbianism. Larsen never makes this explicit, but it's important to be aware of the potential of Irene's sexual attraction to Clare as you continue to read.

Finally, it is essential to keep the time period in mind when reading this novel. Irene and Clare's meeting at the Drayton takes place in 1925, which means the last time they saw each other prior to this was 1913. The events in New York take place two years after the Chicago meeting. There was a great influx of African Americans into the North from the South beginning around 1910 or so. This diaspora is referred to as the 'œGreat Migration' and was propelled by job opportunities in northern cities as well as a desire to escape the perils of the Jim Crow South. For many African Americans, a fresh start in the North also meant an opportunity to 'œpass,' that is, to pretend they were white. While Clare does not move from the South, her life as a white woman only really begins after she leaves home and is, thus, similar to what many blacks might have experienced at this time. However, Larsen also demonstrates how life in the North was not free of racism. Clearly, Irene and Clare benefit in ways that characters like Brian (Irene's husband) do not, due to their light skin color.