Analysis of The Portrayal of The Protagonist in Nella Larsen's 'Passing' and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's 'Iola Leroy, Or, Shadows Uplifted'.
ABSTRACT
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir ini saya akan menganalisis penggambaran
tokoh utama atau protagonis dari novel Passing karya Nella Larsen dan Iola
Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted yang keduanya merupakan wanita keturunan
percampuran kulit hitam dan putih, atau
lazim disebut dengan mulatto, di
Amerika Serikat. Pada waktu itu berlaku peraturan bahwa mulatto adalah
termasuk kulit hitam (Negro) walaupun penampilan mereka seperti layaknya
orang kulit putih.
Passing adalah novel yang mengisahkan tentang Clare Kendry, seorang
wanita keturunan campuran kulit hitam dan putih atau mulatto yang dikarunia
penampilan fisik seperti orang kulit putih. Dengan memanfaatkan kondisi fisiknya
Clare menyeberang ke kelompok kulit putih. Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted
adalah novel yang menceritakan tentang Iola Leroy, wanita keturunan kulit hitam
dan kulit putih yang dikarunia penampilan fisik seperti kulit putih. Setelah
ayahnya meninggal, identitasnya sebagai keturunan kulit hitam membuat Iola
dijual sebagai budak. Pengalaman ini membuatnya memutuskan untuk tetap hidup
dengan identitas sebagai kulit hitam.
Dari kedua novel ini kita dapat mengetahui bahwa wanita keturunan kulit
hitam dan kulit putih menghadapi dua pilihan dalam menentukan identitasnya.
Pertama, mereka bisa memanfaatkan kondisi fisik mereka dan masuk kedalam
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kalangan kulit putih atau kedua, mengakui bahwa mereka adalah keturunan kulit
hitam dan hidup sebagai wanita kulit hitam.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................
i
TABLES OF CONTENTS ............................................................................
ii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................
iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ......................................................................
Statement of the Problem .....................................................................
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................
Method of Research .............................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ...................................................................
1
4
4
4
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE PORTRAYAL OF THE
PROTAGONIST IN NELLA LARSEN’S PASSING .....................
6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS THE PORTRAYAL OF THE
PROTAGONIST IN FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER’S
IOLA LEROY, OR, SHADOWS UPLIFTED ....................................
17
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ............................................................
28
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................
33
APPENDIX
Synopsis of Passing .............................................................................
Synopsis of Iola Leroy, or, Shadoows Uplifted ...................................
Biography of Nella Larsen ...................................................................
Biography of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper .......................................
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37
38
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APPENDIX
Synopsis of Passing
Irene Redfield coincidentally meets her mulatto friend, Clare Kendry in a
restaurant in Chicago. They have separated for twelve years. Clare is adopted by
her white aunts after the death of his drunken father, who works as janitor. Irene
only hears rumors about her having been seen at the dinner in a fashionable hotel
accompanied by white people. There is also a rumor about her driving in Lincoln
Park with a man, who is unmistakably white and rich.
Clare confesses that she has passed for white and marries a white man. She
leaves her aunts after marries as she never reveals her true identity to her husband.
Clare, who feels happy with the sudden encounter, insists on Irene’s visiting her.
Despite her lack of time as she has to go back to her family in New York, Irene
agrees to visit her.
When Irene visits Clare in Chicago, Clare reveals her fear to have another
child as she is afraid that the child might be black. Irene is also shocked as John
Bellew, Clare’s husband declares his hatred toward black community. Jokingly,
she called her wife “Nig” as her complexion is getting darker and darker.
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In Chicago, Clare refuses to visit Irene because someone might see her in a
black neighborhood. Even though Irene has ignored Clare’s letter, she invites her
inside when she visits her in New York. Clare decides to attend the Negro Welfare
League dance, which is coordinated by Irene since a lot of white people go.
Besides, her husband is out of town. After the dance, Clare attends some party
held by the black community without her husband knowing it. When her husband,
supposedly in Philadelphia, finds Clare at the party, Clare falls out of window and
brings her agony of her identity to death.
Synopsis of Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted
Iola Leroy is the daughter of Eugene Leroy a wealthy southern slave
owner. Her mother, Marie is a quarter black, a slave who takes care of Leroy
when he is ill and abandoned by his friends. Her parents decide to raise Iola and
her siblings, Harry and Gracie as whites and send them to northern school to
protect them from prejudice and slavery. Later at school, Iola supports the proslavery stance and never realizes that she is an enslaved mulatto.
Upon Leroy’s death, his cousin tricks the family to overtake Leroy’s
property. He separates Marie and her children, and then sells them as slaves.
Marie and Gracie suffer from yellow fever and Gracie dies. Iola, held by an
abusive master, is freed by the Union Army. Exiled from family and home, Iola
becomes a nurse in the army. Dr. Gresham, a white Union hospital physician falls
in love with her but dislikes her care for Tom, a black man who is wounded in a
skirmish with confederate forces. Failed to suppress his feeling, Dr. Gresham
proposes to Iola. Iola refuses the proposal as she does not want to marry a man
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whose race has oppressed her family and race. She begins to accept her identity as
a black woman.
When the Civil War ends, Iola manages to reunite with her family. They
move to Georgia where they meet with progressive northern thinkers, Dr. Latimer,
Dr. Gresham and Miss Delany. Having fully received her identity as a black
woman, Iola rejects Dr. Gresham’s second proposal and then marries Dr. Latimer,
a mulatto who decides to pass as black. Both succeed in their respective career as
physician and teacher. The reunited Leroy family work as an advocate for racial
empowerment and civil rights.
Biography of Nella Larsen
Nella Larsen was born on 13 April 1891. She was the daughter of a West
Indian man named Peter Walker, who married a Danish woman. When she was
two years old, his father died and her mother was remarried to a white Dane, Peter
Larsen. As a result she grew up as a black child of the lower-middle class white
household.
After graduating from a local public school, Larsen attended Fisk
University’s Normal School in 1907. Between 1912 and 1915, she was trained as
a nurse in New York and worked as head nurse at John Andrew Memorial
Hospital and Nurse Training School soon after her graduation. In 1916, she met
Elmer Imes, a physicist. They married and she began to write the following year.
Larsen firstly published her first literary work of two articles about Danish
games in 1920. Both articles were published in the Brownies' Book, a children's
magazine. Then she left nursing in 1921 to become a librarian. Soon, she
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befriended some Harlem Renaissance activists that made her leave her job as a
librarian to become a writer.
In 1928, she published her first novel Quicksand which received a
significant critical acclaim. Her second novel Passing, which was published the
following year also received praise from her fellow contemporaries. Her works
lead her to become the first African-American woman to be awarded
Guggeinheim fellowship of creative writing.
When her marriage failed because of her husband’s infidelity, Larsen
stopped writing and disappeared. Some of her friends speculated that, like her
characters of her novels, she had crossed the color in order to link with her white
relatives. They denied her and until her death in 30 March 1964, she died alone in
her apartment.
Sources: “Nella Larsen Biography”, “Nella Larsen”
Biography of Frances E. W. Harper
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born on September 24, 1825 in
Maryland, Baltimore. She was born a free black woman. Her father was a white
man and her mother was a black woman. After her mother died, she was raised by
her uncle, William Watkins who founded and taught at a local school for free
black children.
After completing her formal education, she worked as a maid for
Armstrong family in Baltimore. The family gave her permission to read all of the
books in the family’s personal library and family-owned bookstore. This triggered
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her interest in writing. Soon, Harper began writing prose and poetry as a reflection
of her own feeling and thoughts on various social and political issues.
After several years of creating and gathering poetry and prose, she
published her first book of poetry entitled Forest Leaves in 1846. She left her job
in Armstrong family to join Union Seminary in Columbus, Ohio where she
became the first female member. She also helped slaves to escape through the
Underground Railroad and wrote for an anti-slavery newspaper, earning her
reputation as the mother of African American journalism.
In 1860, she married Fenton Harper and had a daughter, Mary. Her
husband’s death in 1864 led her back to Philadelphian to teach and lecture. Then
she published Moses: A Story of the Nile (1869), Poems (1871), Sketches of
Southern Life (1872). She also wrote articles on various topics which were
published on newspapers and magazines. In 1892, after her interest shifted from
poetry to fiction, she wrote Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted which was considered
as the most impressive novel written by African American writer. She died in
1911, but her wisdom and desire for human equality survived well until 1990’s
and lived on for years to come.
Sources: Parish, “Frances Ellen Watkins Harper”.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
A mulatto is defined as “the first general offspring of a black and white
parent; or, an individual with both white and black ancestors. Generally, mulattoes
are light-skinned (Pilgrim). Mulattoes are considered in a midway position between
black and white, which makes them encounter difficulty in adjusting themselves in
society because years before the Civil War when slavery was still in practice, United
States’ people were classified based on skin color, and there were two classes
consisting of the superior white and the inferior black (George).
Generally mulattoes were gifted with light skin, which enabled them to join
the upper strata of white society. In the end, white people were threatened by the
increasing number of light-skinned mulattoes as most light-skinned mulattoes
adopted the attitude of whites toward the lower caste and took advantage of the social
and economic opportunities that their lighter skin afforded. The whites also felt the
need to maintain “pure blood” that finally made them treat mulattoes the same as they
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treated the black people, as shown in a legal regulation at that time: “by the
antebellum period all of the states had imposed stringent regulations on
miscegenation and had relegated mulattoes to the same status as “pure” blacks”
(George). Light-skinned mulattoes were often tempted to pass for the white to gain
higher social status and materials, which was why most of them faced a problem
whether to accept their true identity as black or to pretend to be white (Covert). Based
on the above facts, I have chosen to analyze two novels written by Nella Larsen and
Frances E. W. Harper, in both of which talk about the same issue: women of
multiracial off-springs who try to establish their identities.
The first author is Nella Larsen. She is the first African-American writer who
was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship for creative writing. Larsen wrote not only
novels but also articles about Danish games which were published in some
magazines. Even though she only wrote two novels, Quicksand and Passing, her
works are of extraordinary quality that earned her high appreciation from her
contemporaries. Alice Walker praises both Passing and Quicksand as “Novels that
open up a whole world of experience and struggle, absolutely absorbing, fascinating,
and indispensable” (“Passing”).
Passing written by Nella Larsen has been considered as “a work so fine,
sensitive, and distinguished that it raises above race categories and becomes that rare
object, a good novel” as reviewed by W.B. Seabrook in The Saturday Review of
Literature (“Passing: The Novel in Focus”). Appearing as a story of a light-skinned
mulatto woman who tries to define her identity, this novel is undoubtedly considered
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a dramatic story about race and self identity. Passing also provides an example of
some of the best writings of the Harlem Renaissance.
The second author is Frances E. W. Harper. She is an American author, a
journalist, a poet and a professional lecturer. Aside from Iola Leroy or Shadows
Uplifted, Harper published books of poems entitled Forest Leaves and Poems of
Miscellaneous Subjects. She has given a great contribution in the literary world as she
uses her writings to fight racism. Moreover, she made strong feminist statements that
she was considered as “one of the colored women of whom white women may be
proud, and to whom the abolitionists can point and declare that a race which could
show such women never ought to have been held in bondage" (Reuben). Her short
story The Two Offers was the first short story published by an African American.
A story about a light-skinned mulatto woman trying to define her identity also
appears in Frances E. W. Harper’s Iola Leroy. The novel, which was written in the
late 19th century, has received many critics and praises. It was regarded to be "the
most impressive novel by an African-American prior to the twentieth century"
(Reuben). It is a “splendid novel, broad and useful portrait of society during
reconstruction from the black point of view" (“Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted”).
This is why the novel becomes the first widely-read novel to deal with the African
American experience during slavery.
I have chosen to analyze the portrayal of protagonists in both novels as the
two of them deal with the same problem regarding their identities. Moreover, the
authors have different ways in presenting their characters, especially in the way the
protagonists
deal
with
their
identities
as
light-skinned
mulatto
women.
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Characterization is really important as “it is actually characterization that moves the
story along, because a compelling character in a difficult situation creates his or her
own plot” (Bernardo).
Statement of the Problems
1. How do the authors portray the protagonists?
2. What are the purposes of the authors in creating such characters?
Purpose of the Study
1. The purpose of the study is to analyze how the authors portray the
protagonists.
2. The purpose of the study is to reveal the purposes of the authors in creating
such characters.
Method of Research
I use the library research that includes reading and understanding the primary
texts which are the novels and other references, in order to make an objective and a
non-superficial analysis in the process of the study. Next, I analyze the portrayal of
the protagonist and the purpose of the author in creating such character in each of the
novels. Lastly, I draw some conclusions from my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
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The organization of the thesis is divided into four chapters, which are
preceded by Preface and Abstract. Chapter One is Introduction, which contains
Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of
Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains the analysis of the
portrayal of the protagonist in Nella Larsen’s Passing. Chapter Three contains the
analysis of the portrayal of the protagonist in Frances E. W. Harper’s Iola Leroy or
Shadows Uplifted. Chapter Four contains the conclusion of the analysis. The thesis
ends with the Bibliography and Appendix, which consist of the summary of the two
novels and the biography of the authors
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analyzing Nella Larsen’s novel entitled Passing and Frances Ellen
Watkins Harper’s entitled Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted, I would like to draw
some conclusions. Both Nella Larsen’s Passing and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s
Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted deal with the issues of mulatto women who try to
claim their identity. Both protagonists, regardless of their physical beauty, face the
similar problem whether to accept or to hide their identity.
In spite of those similarities, there are also some differences. The first
difference is that Clare chooses to pass for the white, while Iola chooses to be the part
of the black people’s society. The fact that they live in different conditions makes
their reason for their decisions is also different. Growing up with her father who
works as a janitor makes Clare lives in poverty. That is why she thinks that material
wealth is the only source of happiness. Since the majority of white people at time live
in prosperity, passing for the white is the only chance for Clare to be free from
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poverty. The prosperity of white people is evidenced from the fact that white people
usually dine at fashionable hotels. They drive limousine and are always dressed up.
All of those mentioned make Clare choose to pass for the white so that she can marry
a rich white man and get material wealth, even though she has to hide her identity and
pretend to be someone else.
On the other hand, Iola Leroy grows up as a daughter of slave owner and lives
in prosperity. She has a chance to get education as her father sends her to college.
Later, after the war ends, she is supported financially by her long-lost uncle. When
she experiences slavery, she becomes aware that white people have caused black
people to suffer, and feels sympathy toward them. Despite the fact that she once lived
a wealthy life, she now understands that wealth is not the source of happiness. The
true happiness is actually to help black people to fight for their rights. That is why,
she does not choose to pass for the white. Instead, she chooses to accept her identity
as a mulatto and become part of black people, so that she can help them fight for their
rights.
In the novels, the motivations of the protagonists for claiming their identities
are different. Clare Kendry passes for the white for economic reason so that she can
gain material wealth while Iola Leroy claims her identity as a black woman for the
reason that the white society is the source of black’s suffering. Though passing for
white means freedom from slavery but Iola chooses to embrace her identity as a black
woman so that she can help her own people.
This is in accordance with the different setting of time between the two
novels. The first novel is set in 1929, a period in which segregation took place in
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America. At that time, mulatto women do the act of passing because passing for the
white offers opportunities such as better jobs, better housing. Passing for the white
also means treated with respect not disdain. (Haynes) On the other hand, the second
novel is set in the period during the civil war when slavery was still at practice. At
that time, mullatto women pass for the white because it could mean freedom. There
are many documented instances of fair-skinned slaves who pass for the white to
escape. (Haynes)
Another difference is that Clare Kendry in Passing is portrayed as a selfish
woman, while Iola Leroy in Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted is portrayed as a
selfless woman. Clare’s selfishness results from her being raised by white people who
do not care about her. Her white aunts consider her as a Negro and push her to do
hard work. They also think that they are more superior than Clare due to her mixed
blood. As a result, when a white and rich man turns up, she only thinks of her own
happiness and leaves her aunts to marry the man. On the other hand, Iola Leroy
becomes selfless as she is raised among black people who care about her. Iola’s father
isolates her from white people so that she would not get unfair treatments from them.
Being raised among black people who care about her makes her become selfless and
having witnessed the black people being treated unequally urges her to help them to
gain equality.
The other difference is that Clare Kendry is portrayed as a reckless woman,
while Iola Leroy is portrayed as a sensible woman. Clare Kendry becomes reckless
because she always thinks that money is the source of happiness, which is why she
makes a decision to pass for the white. She does not think of the consequences that
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she will encounter after passing for the white. Different from Clare, Iola is portrayed
as a sensible woman as she has experienced slavery and has been treated unfairly by
white people. Because of her bitter experience, she decides to accept her identity as a
mulatto and to be part of black people.
These novels are about the act of passing for the white. In times when people
were separated based on skin color, passing for the white is an effort for the
protagonists to escape from their condition. In the first novel with the setting of time
around 1929, passing for the white is an effort for mulatto women to escape from
poverty, to get opportunities that were closed for black people and to gain higher
social status. While in the second novel with the setting of time during and after the
Civil War, passing for the white is an effort for mulatto women to escape from
slavery and gain freedom.
By portraying such characters, the authors of the two novels show their
purposes of creating the novels. Nella Larsen exposes her criticism about the act of
passing. Even though passing for the white is an option for light-skinned mulatto but
one who wants to pass should have further consideration about the consequences of
such action. Her criticism is related to her own experience, as she tries to pass for the
white to connect with her white relatives but she is rejected by them as she inherits
the negro blood from her black father.
On the other hand, Frances E. W. Harper would like to persuade mullatoes to
embrace their black descent and to accept their identity as blacks. Furthermore,
through Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted she also wants to show that mulattos should
not be ashamed of being considered as black people. Black people also have good
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characteristics and they deserve to be treated equally. Frances E. W. Harper’s view on
racial issues is related to her being raised as a black woman. She is proud of being
black. She has written many articles on racial issues to uplift her own race. Larsen’s
and Harper’s styles of portraying the characters makes these novels to become
interesting and worth analyzing.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary texts:
Harper, Frances E. W. Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted. New York: Dover
Publication, Inc, 2010.
Larsen, Nella. Passing. New York: Dover Publication, Inc, 2004.
References :
Bernardo, Karen. “Characterization in Literature.” Storybites. N.p., 2011. Web. 28
Oct. 2011.
“Caring” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
Covert, Jessica. “Everything Must Be Paid For: The Price of Passing”. Literary
Analysis #2. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2012.
“Devious” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
“Frances Ellen Watkins Harper”. Poetry Foundation. N.p., 2011. Web. 28 Oct.
2011.
George, Marie Amelie, “The Modern Mulatto: A Comparative Analysis of the
Social and Legal Positions of Mulattos in the Antebellum South and the
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Intersex in Contemporary America”. Mixed Race Studies. N.p., 2009.
Web. 19 May 2012.
Haynes, Monica. “Passing: How Passing as White Became a Choice for Many
Black Americans” Post-Gazzete.com. PG Publishing Co., Inc. 26 October
2003. Web. 13 September 2012.
“Independent” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London:
Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
“Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted”. Oxford University Press. N.p., 2005. Web. 28
Oct. 2011.
“Materialistic” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London:
Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
“Mulattoes, Mixed Race, and Creoles”. Frenchcreoles.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19
May 2012.
“Nella Larsen”. Extravagant Crowd Carl Van Vechten’s Portraits of Woman.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
“Nella Larsen Biography”. Biography Base. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
Nittle, Nandra Kareem. “Definition of Passing” About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2013.
11 Feb 2013.
Norton, John. H. “Mulatto” Wordnik. N.p., 6 Oct 2007. Web. 11 Feb 2013.
“Optimistic” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
Parish, Jenette. “Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)”. Achieves of
Maryland. N.p. 2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
“Passing”. The Drama Book Shop, Inc. 18 Dec 2007. Web. 22 Apr 2012.
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“Passing: The Novel in Focus”. Gale Notable and Its History. N.p., 2012. Web. 22
Apr 2012.
Pilgrim, David. “The Tragic Mulatto Myth” Ferris. Ferris State University. Nov
2000. Web. 19 May 2012.
“Pretentious” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
“Reckless” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
Reuben, Paul P. “Chapter 9: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911).” PAL:
Perspective in American Literature – A Research and Reference Guide –
An Ongoing Project. N.p., 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
Reuben, Paul P. “Chapter 5: Nella Larsen (1891-1964).” PAL: Perspective in
American Literature – A Research and Reference Guide – An Ongoing
Project. N.p., 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 9 Nov. 2011
“Selfish” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
“Selfless” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
“Sensible” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
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Dalam penulisan tugas akhir ini saya akan menganalisis penggambaran
tokoh utama atau protagonis dari novel Passing karya Nella Larsen dan Iola
Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted yang keduanya merupakan wanita keturunan
percampuran kulit hitam dan putih, atau
lazim disebut dengan mulatto, di
Amerika Serikat. Pada waktu itu berlaku peraturan bahwa mulatto adalah
termasuk kulit hitam (Negro) walaupun penampilan mereka seperti layaknya
orang kulit putih.
Passing adalah novel yang mengisahkan tentang Clare Kendry, seorang
wanita keturunan campuran kulit hitam dan putih atau mulatto yang dikarunia
penampilan fisik seperti orang kulit putih. Dengan memanfaatkan kondisi fisiknya
Clare menyeberang ke kelompok kulit putih. Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted
adalah novel yang menceritakan tentang Iola Leroy, wanita keturunan kulit hitam
dan kulit putih yang dikarunia penampilan fisik seperti kulit putih. Setelah
ayahnya meninggal, identitasnya sebagai keturunan kulit hitam membuat Iola
dijual sebagai budak. Pengalaman ini membuatnya memutuskan untuk tetap hidup
dengan identitas sebagai kulit hitam.
Dari kedua novel ini kita dapat mengetahui bahwa wanita keturunan kulit
hitam dan kulit putih menghadapi dua pilihan dalam menentukan identitasnya.
Pertama, mereka bisa memanfaatkan kondisi fisik mereka dan masuk kedalam
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kalangan kulit putih atau kedua, mengakui bahwa mereka adalah keturunan kulit
hitam dan hidup sebagai wanita kulit hitam.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................
i
TABLES OF CONTENTS ............................................................................
ii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................
iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ......................................................................
Statement of the Problem .....................................................................
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................
Method of Research .............................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ...................................................................
1
4
4
4
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE PORTRAYAL OF THE
PROTAGONIST IN NELLA LARSEN’S PASSING .....................
6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS THE PORTRAYAL OF THE
PROTAGONIST IN FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER’S
IOLA LEROY, OR, SHADOWS UPLIFTED ....................................
17
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ............................................................
28
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................
33
APPENDIX
Synopsis of Passing .............................................................................
Synopsis of Iola Leroy, or, Shadoows Uplifted ...................................
Biography of Nella Larsen ...................................................................
Biography of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper .......................................
36
37
38
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APPENDIX
Synopsis of Passing
Irene Redfield coincidentally meets her mulatto friend, Clare Kendry in a
restaurant in Chicago. They have separated for twelve years. Clare is adopted by
her white aunts after the death of his drunken father, who works as janitor. Irene
only hears rumors about her having been seen at the dinner in a fashionable hotel
accompanied by white people. There is also a rumor about her driving in Lincoln
Park with a man, who is unmistakably white and rich.
Clare confesses that she has passed for white and marries a white man. She
leaves her aunts after marries as she never reveals her true identity to her husband.
Clare, who feels happy with the sudden encounter, insists on Irene’s visiting her.
Despite her lack of time as she has to go back to her family in New York, Irene
agrees to visit her.
When Irene visits Clare in Chicago, Clare reveals her fear to have another
child as she is afraid that the child might be black. Irene is also shocked as John
Bellew, Clare’s husband declares his hatred toward black community. Jokingly,
she called her wife “Nig” as her complexion is getting darker and darker.
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In Chicago, Clare refuses to visit Irene because someone might see her in a
black neighborhood. Even though Irene has ignored Clare’s letter, she invites her
inside when she visits her in New York. Clare decides to attend the Negro Welfare
League dance, which is coordinated by Irene since a lot of white people go.
Besides, her husband is out of town. After the dance, Clare attends some party
held by the black community without her husband knowing it. When her husband,
supposedly in Philadelphia, finds Clare at the party, Clare falls out of window and
brings her agony of her identity to death.
Synopsis of Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted
Iola Leroy is the daughter of Eugene Leroy a wealthy southern slave
owner. Her mother, Marie is a quarter black, a slave who takes care of Leroy
when he is ill and abandoned by his friends. Her parents decide to raise Iola and
her siblings, Harry and Gracie as whites and send them to northern school to
protect them from prejudice and slavery. Later at school, Iola supports the proslavery stance and never realizes that she is an enslaved mulatto.
Upon Leroy’s death, his cousin tricks the family to overtake Leroy’s
property. He separates Marie and her children, and then sells them as slaves.
Marie and Gracie suffer from yellow fever and Gracie dies. Iola, held by an
abusive master, is freed by the Union Army. Exiled from family and home, Iola
becomes a nurse in the army. Dr. Gresham, a white Union hospital physician falls
in love with her but dislikes her care for Tom, a black man who is wounded in a
skirmish with confederate forces. Failed to suppress his feeling, Dr. Gresham
proposes to Iola. Iola refuses the proposal as she does not want to marry a man
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whose race has oppressed her family and race. She begins to accept her identity as
a black woman.
When the Civil War ends, Iola manages to reunite with her family. They
move to Georgia where they meet with progressive northern thinkers, Dr. Latimer,
Dr. Gresham and Miss Delany. Having fully received her identity as a black
woman, Iola rejects Dr. Gresham’s second proposal and then marries Dr. Latimer,
a mulatto who decides to pass as black. Both succeed in their respective career as
physician and teacher. The reunited Leroy family work as an advocate for racial
empowerment and civil rights.
Biography of Nella Larsen
Nella Larsen was born on 13 April 1891. She was the daughter of a West
Indian man named Peter Walker, who married a Danish woman. When she was
two years old, his father died and her mother was remarried to a white Dane, Peter
Larsen. As a result she grew up as a black child of the lower-middle class white
household.
After graduating from a local public school, Larsen attended Fisk
University’s Normal School in 1907. Between 1912 and 1915, she was trained as
a nurse in New York and worked as head nurse at John Andrew Memorial
Hospital and Nurse Training School soon after her graduation. In 1916, she met
Elmer Imes, a physicist. They married and she began to write the following year.
Larsen firstly published her first literary work of two articles about Danish
games in 1920. Both articles were published in the Brownies' Book, a children's
magazine. Then she left nursing in 1921 to become a librarian. Soon, she
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befriended some Harlem Renaissance activists that made her leave her job as a
librarian to become a writer.
In 1928, she published her first novel Quicksand which received a
significant critical acclaim. Her second novel Passing, which was published the
following year also received praise from her fellow contemporaries. Her works
lead her to become the first African-American woman to be awarded
Guggeinheim fellowship of creative writing.
When her marriage failed because of her husband’s infidelity, Larsen
stopped writing and disappeared. Some of her friends speculated that, like her
characters of her novels, she had crossed the color in order to link with her white
relatives. They denied her and until her death in 30 March 1964, she died alone in
her apartment.
Sources: “Nella Larsen Biography”, “Nella Larsen”
Biography of Frances E. W. Harper
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born on September 24, 1825 in
Maryland, Baltimore. She was born a free black woman. Her father was a white
man and her mother was a black woman. After her mother died, she was raised by
her uncle, William Watkins who founded and taught at a local school for free
black children.
After completing her formal education, she worked as a maid for
Armstrong family in Baltimore. The family gave her permission to read all of the
books in the family’s personal library and family-owned bookstore. This triggered
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her interest in writing. Soon, Harper began writing prose and poetry as a reflection
of her own feeling and thoughts on various social and political issues.
After several years of creating and gathering poetry and prose, she
published her first book of poetry entitled Forest Leaves in 1846. She left her job
in Armstrong family to join Union Seminary in Columbus, Ohio where she
became the first female member. She also helped slaves to escape through the
Underground Railroad and wrote for an anti-slavery newspaper, earning her
reputation as the mother of African American journalism.
In 1860, she married Fenton Harper and had a daughter, Mary. Her
husband’s death in 1864 led her back to Philadelphian to teach and lecture. Then
she published Moses: A Story of the Nile (1869), Poems (1871), Sketches of
Southern Life (1872). She also wrote articles on various topics which were
published on newspapers and magazines. In 1892, after her interest shifted from
poetry to fiction, she wrote Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted which was considered
as the most impressive novel written by African American writer. She died in
1911, but her wisdom and desire for human equality survived well until 1990’s
and lived on for years to come.
Sources: Parish, “Frances Ellen Watkins Harper”.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
A mulatto is defined as “the first general offspring of a black and white
parent; or, an individual with both white and black ancestors. Generally, mulattoes
are light-skinned (Pilgrim). Mulattoes are considered in a midway position between
black and white, which makes them encounter difficulty in adjusting themselves in
society because years before the Civil War when slavery was still in practice, United
States’ people were classified based on skin color, and there were two classes
consisting of the superior white and the inferior black (George).
Generally mulattoes were gifted with light skin, which enabled them to join
the upper strata of white society. In the end, white people were threatened by the
increasing number of light-skinned mulattoes as most light-skinned mulattoes
adopted the attitude of whites toward the lower caste and took advantage of the social
and economic opportunities that their lighter skin afforded. The whites also felt the
need to maintain “pure blood” that finally made them treat mulattoes the same as they
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treated the black people, as shown in a legal regulation at that time: “by the
antebellum period all of the states had imposed stringent regulations on
miscegenation and had relegated mulattoes to the same status as “pure” blacks”
(George). Light-skinned mulattoes were often tempted to pass for the white to gain
higher social status and materials, which was why most of them faced a problem
whether to accept their true identity as black or to pretend to be white (Covert). Based
on the above facts, I have chosen to analyze two novels written by Nella Larsen and
Frances E. W. Harper, in both of which talk about the same issue: women of
multiracial off-springs who try to establish their identities.
The first author is Nella Larsen. She is the first African-American writer who
was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship for creative writing. Larsen wrote not only
novels but also articles about Danish games which were published in some
magazines. Even though she only wrote two novels, Quicksand and Passing, her
works are of extraordinary quality that earned her high appreciation from her
contemporaries. Alice Walker praises both Passing and Quicksand as “Novels that
open up a whole world of experience and struggle, absolutely absorbing, fascinating,
and indispensable” (“Passing”).
Passing written by Nella Larsen has been considered as “a work so fine,
sensitive, and distinguished that it raises above race categories and becomes that rare
object, a good novel” as reviewed by W.B. Seabrook in The Saturday Review of
Literature (“Passing: The Novel in Focus”). Appearing as a story of a light-skinned
mulatto woman who tries to define her identity, this novel is undoubtedly considered
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a dramatic story about race and self identity. Passing also provides an example of
some of the best writings of the Harlem Renaissance.
The second author is Frances E. W. Harper. She is an American author, a
journalist, a poet and a professional lecturer. Aside from Iola Leroy or Shadows
Uplifted, Harper published books of poems entitled Forest Leaves and Poems of
Miscellaneous Subjects. She has given a great contribution in the literary world as she
uses her writings to fight racism. Moreover, she made strong feminist statements that
she was considered as “one of the colored women of whom white women may be
proud, and to whom the abolitionists can point and declare that a race which could
show such women never ought to have been held in bondage" (Reuben). Her short
story The Two Offers was the first short story published by an African American.
A story about a light-skinned mulatto woman trying to define her identity also
appears in Frances E. W. Harper’s Iola Leroy. The novel, which was written in the
late 19th century, has received many critics and praises. It was regarded to be "the
most impressive novel by an African-American prior to the twentieth century"
(Reuben). It is a “splendid novel, broad and useful portrait of society during
reconstruction from the black point of view" (“Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted”).
This is why the novel becomes the first widely-read novel to deal with the African
American experience during slavery.
I have chosen to analyze the portrayal of protagonists in both novels as the
two of them deal with the same problem regarding their identities. Moreover, the
authors have different ways in presenting their characters, especially in the way the
protagonists
deal
with
their
identities
as
light-skinned
mulatto
women.
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Characterization is really important as “it is actually characterization that moves the
story along, because a compelling character in a difficult situation creates his or her
own plot” (Bernardo).
Statement of the Problems
1. How do the authors portray the protagonists?
2. What are the purposes of the authors in creating such characters?
Purpose of the Study
1. The purpose of the study is to analyze how the authors portray the
protagonists.
2. The purpose of the study is to reveal the purposes of the authors in creating
such characters.
Method of Research
I use the library research that includes reading and understanding the primary
texts which are the novels and other references, in order to make an objective and a
non-superficial analysis in the process of the study. Next, I analyze the portrayal of
the protagonist and the purpose of the author in creating such character in each of the
novels. Lastly, I draw some conclusions from my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
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The organization of the thesis is divided into four chapters, which are
preceded by Preface and Abstract. Chapter One is Introduction, which contains
Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of
Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains the analysis of the
portrayal of the protagonist in Nella Larsen’s Passing. Chapter Three contains the
analysis of the portrayal of the protagonist in Frances E. W. Harper’s Iola Leroy or
Shadows Uplifted. Chapter Four contains the conclusion of the analysis. The thesis
ends with the Bibliography and Appendix, which consist of the summary of the two
novels and the biography of the authors
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analyzing Nella Larsen’s novel entitled Passing and Frances Ellen
Watkins Harper’s entitled Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted, I would like to draw
some conclusions. Both Nella Larsen’s Passing and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s
Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted deal with the issues of mulatto women who try to
claim their identity. Both protagonists, regardless of their physical beauty, face the
similar problem whether to accept or to hide their identity.
In spite of those similarities, there are also some differences. The first
difference is that Clare chooses to pass for the white, while Iola chooses to be the part
of the black people’s society. The fact that they live in different conditions makes
their reason for their decisions is also different. Growing up with her father who
works as a janitor makes Clare lives in poverty. That is why she thinks that material
wealth is the only source of happiness. Since the majority of white people at time live
in prosperity, passing for the white is the only chance for Clare to be free from
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poverty. The prosperity of white people is evidenced from the fact that white people
usually dine at fashionable hotels. They drive limousine and are always dressed up.
All of those mentioned make Clare choose to pass for the white so that she can marry
a rich white man and get material wealth, even though she has to hide her identity and
pretend to be someone else.
On the other hand, Iola Leroy grows up as a daughter of slave owner and lives
in prosperity. She has a chance to get education as her father sends her to college.
Later, after the war ends, she is supported financially by her long-lost uncle. When
she experiences slavery, she becomes aware that white people have caused black
people to suffer, and feels sympathy toward them. Despite the fact that she once lived
a wealthy life, she now understands that wealth is not the source of happiness. The
true happiness is actually to help black people to fight for their rights. That is why,
she does not choose to pass for the white. Instead, she chooses to accept her identity
as a mulatto and become part of black people, so that she can help them fight for their
rights.
In the novels, the motivations of the protagonists for claiming their identities
are different. Clare Kendry passes for the white for economic reason so that she can
gain material wealth while Iola Leroy claims her identity as a black woman for the
reason that the white society is the source of black’s suffering. Though passing for
white means freedom from slavery but Iola chooses to embrace her identity as a black
woman so that she can help her own people.
This is in accordance with the different setting of time between the two
novels. The first novel is set in 1929, a period in which segregation took place in
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America. At that time, mulatto women do the act of passing because passing for the
white offers opportunities such as better jobs, better housing. Passing for the white
also means treated with respect not disdain. (Haynes) On the other hand, the second
novel is set in the period during the civil war when slavery was still at practice. At
that time, mullatto women pass for the white because it could mean freedom. There
are many documented instances of fair-skinned slaves who pass for the white to
escape. (Haynes)
Another difference is that Clare Kendry in Passing is portrayed as a selfish
woman, while Iola Leroy in Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted is portrayed as a
selfless woman. Clare’s selfishness results from her being raised by white people who
do not care about her. Her white aunts consider her as a Negro and push her to do
hard work. They also think that they are more superior than Clare due to her mixed
blood. As a result, when a white and rich man turns up, she only thinks of her own
happiness and leaves her aunts to marry the man. On the other hand, Iola Leroy
becomes selfless as she is raised among black people who care about her. Iola’s father
isolates her from white people so that she would not get unfair treatments from them.
Being raised among black people who care about her makes her become selfless and
having witnessed the black people being treated unequally urges her to help them to
gain equality.
The other difference is that Clare Kendry is portrayed as a reckless woman,
while Iola Leroy is portrayed as a sensible woman. Clare Kendry becomes reckless
because she always thinks that money is the source of happiness, which is why she
makes a decision to pass for the white. She does not think of the consequences that
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she will encounter after passing for the white. Different from Clare, Iola is portrayed
as a sensible woman as she has experienced slavery and has been treated unfairly by
white people. Because of her bitter experience, she decides to accept her identity as a
mulatto and to be part of black people.
These novels are about the act of passing for the white. In times when people
were separated based on skin color, passing for the white is an effort for the
protagonists to escape from their condition. In the first novel with the setting of time
around 1929, passing for the white is an effort for mulatto women to escape from
poverty, to get opportunities that were closed for black people and to gain higher
social status. While in the second novel with the setting of time during and after the
Civil War, passing for the white is an effort for mulatto women to escape from
slavery and gain freedom.
By portraying such characters, the authors of the two novels show their
purposes of creating the novels. Nella Larsen exposes her criticism about the act of
passing. Even though passing for the white is an option for light-skinned mulatto but
one who wants to pass should have further consideration about the consequences of
such action. Her criticism is related to her own experience, as she tries to pass for the
white to connect with her white relatives but she is rejected by them as she inherits
the negro blood from her black father.
On the other hand, Frances E. W. Harper would like to persuade mullatoes to
embrace their black descent and to accept their identity as blacks. Furthermore,
through Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted she also wants to show that mulattos should
not be ashamed of being considered as black people. Black people also have good
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characteristics and they deserve to be treated equally. Frances E. W. Harper’s view on
racial issues is related to her being raised as a black woman. She is proud of being
black. She has written many articles on racial issues to uplift her own race. Larsen’s
and Harper’s styles of portraying the characters makes these novels to become
interesting and worth analyzing.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary texts:
Harper, Frances E. W. Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted. New York: Dover
Publication, Inc, 2010.
Larsen, Nella. Passing. New York: Dover Publication, Inc, 2004.
References :
Bernardo, Karen. “Characterization in Literature.” Storybites. N.p., 2011. Web. 28
Oct. 2011.
“Caring” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
Covert, Jessica. “Everything Must Be Paid For: The Price of Passing”. Literary
Analysis #2. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2012.
“Devious” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
“Frances Ellen Watkins Harper”. Poetry Foundation. N.p., 2011. Web. 28 Oct.
2011.
George, Marie Amelie, “The Modern Mulatto: A Comparative Analysis of the
Social and Legal Positions of Mulattos in the Antebellum South and the
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Intersex in Contemporary America”. Mixed Race Studies. N.p., 2009.
Web. 19 May 2012.
Haynes, Monica. “Passing: How Passing as White Became a Choice for Many
Black Americans” Post-Gazzete.com. PG Publishing Co., Inc. 26 October
2003. Web. 13 September 2012.
“Independent” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London:
Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
“Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted”. Oxford University Press. N.p., 2005. Web. 28
Oct. 2011.
“Materialistic” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London:
Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
“Mulattoes, Mixed Race, and Creoles”. Frenchcreoles.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19
May 2012.
“Nella Larsen”. Extravagant Crowd Carl Van Vechten’s Portraits of Woman.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
“Nella Larsen Biography”. Biography Base. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
Nittle, Nandra Kareem. “Definition of Passing” About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2013.
11 Feb 2013.
Norton, John. H. “Mulatto” Wordnik. N.p., 6 Oct 2007. Web. 11 Feb 2013.
“Optimistic” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
Parish, Jenette. “Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)”. Achieves of
Maryland. N.p. 2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
“Passing”. The Drama Book Shop, Inc. 18 Dec 2007. Web. 22 Apr 2012.
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“Passing: The Novel in Focus”. Gale Notable and Its History. N.p., 2012. Web. 22
Apr 2012.
Pilgrim, David. “The Tragic Mulatto Myth” Ferris. Ferris State University. Nov
2000. Web. 19 May 2012.
“Pretentious” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
“Reckless” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
Reuben, Paul P. “Chapter 9: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911).” PAL:
Perspective in American Literature – A Research and Reference Guide –
An Ongoing Project. N.p., 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
Reuben, Paul P. “Chapter 5: Nella Larsen (1891-1964).” PAL: Perspective in
American Literature – A Research and Reference Guide – An Ongoing
Project. N.p., 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 9 Nov. 2011
“Selfish” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
“Selfless” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
“Sensible” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition, London: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
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