Something that I found that the book does more explicitly than the movie is creating tension between the juxtaposing feelings of being an outsider versus being an insider. Clare understands that she is infiltrating white spaces and firmly looks at herself as an outsider despite the fact that she chooses to pass. Irene even notes this after hearing Clare’s husband, John, refer to her as a racial slur. Irene is perplexed that Clare “would permit this ridiculing of her race by an outsider.” (Larsen 66) I think that this point points out an interesting perspective that shows that no matter what lengths Black people might choose to distance themselves from their racial identity, Blackness and the Black identity are so intrinsically connected with one’s self that it can never truly be ignored.