"Passing" by Nella Larsen

I was not aware of what passing was before I read this story. Now I know that passing takes place when African-American people with light skin pass themselves off as white people, to enjoy the same privileges and rights.
There are two main characters in the story, Irene and Clare. They are both African-American women, who were friends as children, and by chance they meet again as adults.
Irene Redfield is middle-class, married to an African-American doctor, she has 2 sons, and she is of white complexion. She lives in Harlem among other African-Americans, and she does not want to pass for a white woman, as she is proud of her heritage.
Clare Kendry is very light skinned due to the fact that her grandfather was white, and had an illegitimate child with a black woman. Clare, after her father dies, was raised by her white aunts, who were poor, but religious, and felt obligated to raise her, but didn’t want people to know that she was African-American. Clare was always a determined person. She was raised poor, and wanted finer things in life. She does not have a problem passing as a white woman, not only because of her looks, but morally she feels it’s a right thing to do if one wants to get ahead in life. She married a white man, who is a bigot. Her husband talks openly about hating African-Americans, even in a company of three black women, but he’s not able to recognize that. He has no idea his wife is really black, and so is his daughter, at least partially. Clare is a very strong person, who at times is even selfish, it probably comes from her upbringing, because her mother died when she was very young, and her father was a drunk, who died when she was 15 years old.
In this story we are shown two different worlds, one is Clare’s – a world where she “plays” a white woman- and the other world belongs to Irene, who could pass for w white woman as well, but chooses not to, however she sometimes passes when people don’t know her, and when it convenient for her to do so. For example she pretends she’s white when she meets Clare’s husband, and also when she goes to a restaurant to cool off.
In time we learn that Clare wants to be with her own people sometimes, and Irene sometimes passes as a white woman. They both play a double life, as they are not really sure who they are, they could both pass for white women, and in reality they are both African-American women. They are in this gray area, not sure of their identity. No matter which side they choose, they still have problems in their lives, some problems are connected to their heritage, and some are just regular problems people of all colors face.