Summary Of Quicksand By Nella Larsen

Nella Larsen’s novel Quicksand is unique, as it was written by a mixed-race woman about a mixed-race woman and published in 1920’s America. In many ways, it is a firsthand and nuanced account that showcases the complexities of what it means to be a mixed-race woman and how that can directly and indirectly cause struggles with identity. With that being said, the intersectional factors of race, gender and class have made Black women the most oppressed minority group in America.

The protagonist of the novel, Helga Crane, is fictional, but her experiences were likely inspired by Larsen’s real life, as Helga is also the daughter of a white Danish immigrant mother and Black immigrant father that met in America. Quicksand was published in 1928—during

At the beginning of the novel Helga expresses that she is not really a religious person, but she does turn to religion after her decision to have a sexual affair with Doctor Anderson backfires and she decides she needs to get married. The rejection is followed by the climax of the novel when Helga is wandering around in the rain seeking literal shelter. This is when she comes across Reverend Green and his religious group/meeting. The people attending the meeting are awful to her and say horrible things, but they are trying to “save her soul” or at least that is how she chooses to see it. Rain is a symbol for washing away mistakes and washing away the old for the new—and in this scene a new version of Helga definitely comes out, but it is not positive like she intended, and it leads to her tragic fate at the end of the novel. Where she is still not herself and now out of choices. Helga thinks she is having an eye opening religious breakthrough, but in reality she is falling apart, and she chooses to marry Reverend Green out of convenience. It also comes out of a place of jealousy and bitterness towards Doctor Anderson and Anne, but also her desire to “have” something of her own. Religion as an institution prays on her vulnerable state, while still making her feel that she is making her own choices and following some higher power that will keep her safe and bring happiness and

Helga Crane’s struggles with identity are complex, but they can be more deeply understood by looking at them through the intersections of race, gender, and class. That is also how readers can be made aware of how and why Black women are the most oppressed minority group in America, as “.Helga explores and attempts to transcend barriers of race, class, and gender in subtler ways” (Way 537). The “Harlem Renaissance” was a crucial time in American history, but the geographical changes throughout the novel highlight the different issues faced more fully and they also highlight the long-lasting effects of colonialism, as “Quicksand demonstrates how black nativism queers subjects who do not fit within specific racial parameters. Ironically, critics have continued to queer Helga and Larsen by chastising them for, on the one hand, not having enough race pride, and, on the other, for being psychically undeveloped” (Macharia