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Since we were talking so much about passing in class this week, I decided to do a little close reading experiment and highlight in my book whenever the word “passing” was used, and a any instances where I thought the fact that passing was being eluded to was so obvious that the reader was practically hit over the head. I came up with a few interesting scenarios.
“I remembered those years mostly in fragments, a montage of unconnected images which I would begin to make sense of only later: a drunk Navy kid trying to break into our motel room one night, and my mother scaring him away with a karate kick to his groin; speculums soaking in a sink at Aurora; a huddle of thunder-thighed women sharing a group hug; and always, the blurring world beyond our windshield, glimpsed only in passing” (136).
“When we were alone she also liked to remind me that I wasn’t really passing because Jews weren’t really white, more like an off-white” (140).
“I swallowed hard and closed my eyes. There was nothing I could say to make my mother feel better, nobody I could become” (152).
I felt the first passage, from page 136, may have been making a reference to how confused Birdie truly is. She has a new name, a new identity, and has been stripped of the “Black Pride” culture she loved. Because of her passing, the world is becoming too blurry for her. Too much for her to handle.
The excerpt from page 140 really intrigued me as well. It is almost as if Senna is reinforcing Rodriguez’s argument from the article we read in class, because Sandy is trying to make it seem as though Birdie is “not really passing.” This use of language, or the way it is phrased, makes passing seem like something to be ashamed of. Sandy is making excuses for her daughter, so Birdie does not have to feel like she is passing. So maybe Sandy is attempting to lessen the burden of the cultural rejection Birdie feels that goes along with passing.
The passage from page 152 really struck me as well. It seems that Birdie has changed her identity so many times that she has almost become fluid. She is like a shape-shifter, able to portray thousands of identities. However, the thought of her being upset because there is no one she can shift into that will ease her mother’s pain just seems so sad. Imagine never being able to truly be yourself, and be forced to take on only the needs and wants of those around you, and at such a young age? It’s just sad really.
But those were some scenes about passing that I noticed in this section. I can’t help but wonder if they are going to become more or less frequent as Birdie/Jesse continues on in her struggle! =)
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