Nella Larsen Biography

In the novel Passing by Nella Larsen, she brings attention to race, sex, freedom, and more. She shows us how life as an African American was and how whites have no shame in mistreating blacks. After doing research on Nella Larsen herself and seeing how her life was as a whole, the things she writes about in her novel Passing are so relatable to her life growing up. For example, “Larsen's exploration of race was informed by her own mixed racial heritage and the increasingly common practice of racial passing in the 1920s” (Passing (novel) Wikipedia). This quote shows how Larsen used her own personal issues and hardships and put them down on paper for us all to experience. She brings us into the body of an African American and makes us feel the pain she and others like her went through. This novel is so powerful to today’s day and age because we have the BLM or Black Lives Matter movement happening and Passing can bring light to how much things have not changed in society. We as Americans still have not united fully and racism and sexism continue to terrorize the streets.