How are Gustus and Mr. bass similar and different from the banana tree

imparadis't in one anothers arms  

the happier eden, shall enjoy their fill  

of bliss on bliss, while i to hell am thrust,  

where neither joy nor love, but fierce desire,  

among our other torments not the least,  

still unfulfill'd with pain of longing pines;  

yet let me not forget what i have gain'd  

from their own mouths; all is not theirs it seems:  

one fatal tree there stands of knowledge call'd,  

forbidden them to taste: knowledge forbidd'n?  

suspicious, reasonless. why should their lord  

envie them that? can it be sin to know,

the significance of the title, "the passing", is related to the fact that the main characters, who are three african-american descendant women, are passing as white. this means that, because of their light-coloured skins they look like white women. one of the three friends, clare, is married to a white man and she lives in a white community and she has never told her husband that she is black. the title can easily be connected to the idea of pretending to be someone you are not and of losing your real identity in order to be accepted by society.