As Martha J. Cutter argues, "race itself is a gap in this text, a mystery, something completely unfathomable" (88). We see this again later in part two, in a conversation between Irene and Mr. Wentworth, a prominent author. Cutter continues "When Irene questions Brian about why people pass, he responds 'If I knew that, I'd know what race is' ...Brian understands that race itself is difficult to define, is enigmatic" (88).

The ambiguity of race in this text spurs on Larsen's theme about the ambiguity of "passing" in general. Passing is not confined to race, and race is not confined to color - it is not as simple as we'd like to assume it is.

1. Cutter, Martha J.. "Sliding Significations: Passing as a Narrative and Textual Strategy in Nella Larsen's Fiction". Passing and the Fictions of Identity. Durham and London: Duke University, 1996.

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