To be or not to be?
The period when the darkest people had their brightest leaf in the big book of American history was Harlem Renaissance. It was the period which gave us many amazing writers, artists and musicians who were striving to promote their race and to represent their intellect. They were black! Black people tried to confront racism and get over stereotypes. The only thing African-Americans wanted was to be equal, respected and taken serious as the others were.
As the one of the biggest movement that African-American ever created, Harlem Renaissance was the topic of our English assignments. By researching it I ‘met’ someone who captured my interest. She is Nella Larsen, one of the greatest writers of the Harlem Renaissance. I’ve already written a blog about her so you can have a look at it: http://harlemitetohipster.blogspot.com/2011/09/nella-larsen.html
Throughout this new blog, I’d like to take a closer look at her novel called “Passing”, and the experiences protagonist had. Larsen was a writer inspired by her own identity, so the situation of the plot of “Passing” is very realistic. Nella was black, BUT she wanted to identify herself in terms of both races, black and white, since her mother was white and her father was black. The question “normal life or struggle for existence?” could be phrased as “White or black?” at the time she lived (1920-1930). The only thing black people could do if they wanted to have a normal life was to pretend. They had to be what they are not!
How often do we actually have to act in our lives? Do we ever pretend to be someone that we are not in order to achieve something that we can’t achieve by being ourselves?
My opinion is that we shouldn’t pretend and that we should always be ourselves. Sometimes it can be difficult, sometime it just happens…unconsciously. Is it desire to be like everyone else, or is it just human’s habit to be better than others, and do what everyone else does? Striving to be something that you are not can get you into very uncomfortable situations, but not if you are skilled and you do it on purpose, and with a certain aim. The character in Larson’s book was very skilled. Pretending that she is white, even though black heritage runs her veins, bring her to a normal, successful life with a white husband. After a while, she meets an old friend who has the same ancestry as she has, but who has married for a black man, and lives in ‘black’ part of the city; who lives black life. The same origins, the same childhood but completely different life stories bring me to wonder who acted correctly.
Which of them is not the one she is meant to be? Who pretends?
Did the woman leading the ‘white life’ have any choices if she wanted to get the most out of life? Was she forced to do that? Or was she just too ashamed to say that she was black? On the other hand, what about the woman who led a ‘black life’; was she perhaps too proud of her black rice? Did her pride cause her to miss out on a better life? There are many arguments which can justify and at the same time not justify, the acts of these women. They knew why they were doing that and that is important – to be what you actually are!
What do you think? Do you always act the way you are?
