The Golden Gate: A Novel

In The Golden Gate, the act of racial passing is depicted as a psychologically costly strategy for survival in a prejudiced nation. The novel explores how assuming a different identity to cross racial lines, while offering access and safety, comes at the price of a fractured self and perpetual anxiety. Through the experiences of Detective Al Sullivan and other characters, Amy Chua suggests that the constant vigilance required to maintain a false identity creates a profound internal conflict, eroding an individual’s connection to their heritage and sense of self.

Sullivan’s personal history embodies the complex burdens of passing. Having changed his name from Gutiérrez to Sullivan, he consciously navigates a world that would judge him for his Mexican and Jewish roots. He reflects on society’s “suspicion line” (97), a barrier that he can cross because of his light skin, but the crossing is never complete. His boss, Chief Greening, makes antisemitic remarks in his presence, unaware of Sullivan’s heritage, highlighting the detective’s precarious position and the emotional toll of his silence. Sullivan’s decision is rooted in a legacy of trauma; his father, before being deported to Mexico, advised him to pass for white, framing it as a necessary tool for survival in a country that equates race with opportunity.