Character Analysis Of Helga Crane In Quicksand By Nella Larsen

Helga Crane, the main character in Nella Larsen’s Quicksand, struggles to find her place and happiness in a world that is separated by black and white. Helga is a mulatto and doesn’t seem to identify with one particular race or the other; she just wants to be accepted. She finds this happiness and acceptance, or so she thinks she has, when she marries Reverend Mr. Pleasant Green and bears his children. Her continual struggle to resist conformity leads her into the traditional role of wife and mother, two roles that she cannot escape.

For years, Helga Crane struggled to find happiness. She travels numerous places in search of true happiness and finally believes she has found it in religion and her marriage to Mr. Reverend Pleasant Green. In

Her reaction to her newborn is not one that society would expect from a mother. Helga seems to be somewhat ashamed of her new baby; she “… had contributed to a despised race ...” (127). She had no motherly feelings toward the child, nor did she want to bond with the child. Helga did not even show any emotion when she is told that the baby did not survive; there seems to be some relief, actually when this news is given. Helga no longer has the burden of a fourth child, nor does she have to worry about cultivating and shaping another Negro child in a world that was not a positive one for their race. She pushed aside all expectations that being a mother held and thought only of herself. In her comatose-type state, she retreated from all of the responsibilities that she had once held. It is curious that she did this; maybe this was her way of abandoning those expectations and showing the town the repercussions of motherhood. Motherhood, especially for Helga, was not an easy task. Having so many children in such a short amount of time gave her body no time to heal and recover, nor did it give Helga time to recover. Her children, all being so young, wore her down and left her with little energy. For so many years, Helga had had no real expectations set on her and now, with a family, she had many expectations upon her. She was expected to be a preacher’s wife and have faith; she was expected to keep a clean house; she was expected to keep her children clean; she was expected to keep her husband happy; she was expected to continue living as a housewife and mother, despite being so ill. It is only when she retreats into herself and abandons all of those expectations that she comes to with a clear mind. Even though Helga does not desire to continue to be a wife, she realizes in her heart that she is still a mother to her three remaining children. She recalls her own childhood and knows that, even though she is