Irene Westover Redfield (often referred to as simply "Rene") has many traits as a major character in Passing, by Nella Larson. What I find ironic is that most of Irene's traits are so important to the story that very few of them are minor. The only minor trait that I can think of in regards to Irene is her age: the early thirties. (I suppose you could also say that another minor trait is that this young thirty-something lives in the 1920s in Harlem). All the other traits of Irene are quite major and important to the story.
Irene is quite complacent about her status in life as a "black" resident of Harlem as she craves safety above all else. One of her major traits is something that, in any other story, a reader might consider as minor: her olive skin. Because Irene has olive skin, she can pass for white when she wants to. Irene uses this trait to her full advantage. We see this in many instances in the book: when purchasing tickets to the theater, when hailing a taxi, or when eating at a restaurant. Irene, of course, doesn't consider these things as a "betrayal" of her race, but only using her race to get what she deserves.
In conclusion, it is interesting to consider how these traits lead to the reader's possible judgement. This mostly has to do with what happens at the end of the book: Clare's death after "falling" out of a building on the sixth floor. Because we know Irene considers Clare to have betrayed her race, the reader must wonder not whether Clare fell but whether she was pushed out of the window by Irene. Even though the ending is ambiguous, the reader is correct in wondering about Irene's involvement.
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