Part 3: Re-Finale

Notes:
Part III is perhaps the most ambiguous section of the novel: it is never really clear if Brian and Clare are having an affair, or if Irene only imagines it. It is also not clear if Irene pushes Clare out the window, or if she falls. By this point, the reader should realize Passing's plot is not action-driven, but character-driven: that is to say, there are not a lot of 'œevents,' but there are many, many descriptions of how Irene feels about a person (usually Clare) or circumstance (usually Clare's attempts to be part of her life). In this final section all the building impressions and suspicions finally explode into action. The whole novel, thus far, has been rising action. In this section we finally come to the climax and outcome. While the specific details of Clare's death are not clear, Irene's reaction to her death is quite obvious: relief.

The climax of a plot is the major turning point that allows the protagonist to resolve the conflict. The climax of Passing is when Clare falls out the window, or is pushed. Whether or not Irene pushed Clare is irrelevant: what matters is Irene's reaction to Clare's death. Irene clearly feels relieved to have Clare gone from her world and, by association, the identity issues Clare raises for Irene.

The outcome, resolution, or denouement is, like the rest of the plot, ambiguous. What we can clearly discern is that once Irene knows Clare is dead and that the crowd generally agrees she fell out of the window, Irene faints. Because we know Irene is not immediately saddened by Clare's death (she is mostly concerned with what people will think about her reaction and then about Brian catching cold), we can conclude that the outcome for Irene is a return to status quo. With Clare gone, she will not have to confront, consistently, the identity issues Clare presented. The act of Irene bringing Brian's coat to him can be read as a commitment to her marriage. Therefore, regardless of whether this plot is about race or sexuality, Irene is bound to a marriage with a black man and appears to continue to make that choice even at the end of the novel. By constraining herself in this way, she continues to choose against the alternative lifestyles Clare represents. However, Irene is forced to undergo a change because of Clare: she has to act, seemingly for the first time, in her own best (selfish) interest. This is clear when she realizes why she never told Brian that John Bellew has uncovered Clare's secret (she does not want Clare to be free of John because then Irene will never be free of Clare and all she represents). Also, if we interpret the ending to mean that Irene killed Clare, then she has clearly sacrificed her moral character.