Passing essays

Passing essays Being truthful about who we are as individuals can be difficult and scary. People put on certain facades to make life more bearable. For example, we might say that a bully at school is only cruel to others so as to hide his/her insecurities. Coleman Silk, Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield have all taken part in the act of passing, the movement of a person who is legally or socially designated black into a white racial category or white social identity, (viii, Larsen). Although this act was used by these characters to ease lifes burdens, it only brought them loss and hardship. Passing has been a large part of many peoples lives; however, it is a very difficult way of living. In the novel The Human Stain by Philip Roth, we find Coleman Silk living his life threw passing. This is a man that worked so hard to erase his past so as to secure his future as a white man. Growing up he had faced many difficult challenges that made him make some harsh decisions. While living in New York he had met a woman by the name of Steena Palsson. She was one of his first loves. They had a great relationship, but Coleman never shared his secret with her. The day came when he took her to meet his family. It was a pleasant meeting in which Steena had the opportunity to discover Colemans secret and see what the other aspects of his life were all about. On there train ride home she was very quiet and it seemed she was resting. When they finally came to stop Coleman noticed her sadness. He tries to comfort her and she says I cant do it ! she cried, and without another w ord of explanation, gasping, violently weeping, clutch her bag to her chest and forgetting her hat, which was in his lap, where hed been holding it while she slept-she raced alone from the train as though from an attacker and did not phone him or try ever to see him again (p. 125, Roth). She left him knowing ...