Why do you think the authors were so surprised by each other's answers?

because everybody has different theories and they get so shocked everybody has different answers

i would need the available options to be listed to give you an answer.

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.