Lessons About Racial Oppression Through Helga Crane

Discussion of themes lies squarely on the important ideas that the author communicates to the readers in the text. Text authors always have that central consciousness which drives them to write the message. This basically involves use of characters in their story settings to make the presentation look even more appealing and easy to understand for the reader`s case. There are several themes that Nella Larsen has addressed in Quicksand readings. Nella Larsen, the author of Quicksand, uses Helga as the main character in order to show the impacts of racism in America.

According to Nella Larsen, Helga seems to be the right character for this description since she is a product of a black father and a white mother. Helga therefore fits in both sides of racial criticism. As a result, Nella states that, Helga experiences a state of denial and a feeling of not being accepted by either group (Thaggert, 44). As we all know, racial discrimination refers to unfair treatment against a person because he or she has a different skin color from that of your group.

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For this response paper, I have therefore chosen the theme of racial oppression as the most dominant theme in Nella`s Quicksand writings. This essay will therefore explore the theme of racial oppression and how Nella has clearly showed acts of racial discrimination in Quicksand. The main impacts of racial oppression, racism, will also be addressed.

In Quicksand by Nella Larsen, it is evident that the theme of racial oppression is actually based on the life of the author, Nella Larsen.

This is because Nella feels dissatisfied in the society and hence, decides to put her thoughts into writing through Helga Crane as her main symbol of what she feels is happening in the American society. Helga Crane is the Quicksand`s main character. She is described as an unmarried despised woman who is still in her early 20s. Nella Larsen states, 'Helga Crane goes searching for a place in which she can call her home throughout the story. She finds herself continuously relocating to numerous places in search of comfort, considering she is a multi-racial woman in a time period in which race is one of the biggest issues (Thaggert, 46).” In this phrase, Nella describes the state that Helga is going through in society. The sentiments are clear that issues of racial discrimination are quite rampant at that time. She states that Helga is a multi-racial woman and hence, finds difficulties adapting to a society that is practicing racial oppression. The novel clearly explains the problems that women or people like Helga go through when they find themselves in places full of gender and racial status.

Nella Larsen further states, 'Helga Crane sat alone in her room, which at that hour, eight in the evening, was in a soft gloom.' This phrase brings us to an opening of Nella Larsen`s first story, Quicksand. The person being described here is Helga, the main character in the novel. She is gloomy, sad and feels quite lost in the society. Reasons behind all this are racial oppression since she feels misplaced owing to the fact that, Helga is multi-racial woman, mother being an American while father being an African. As stated earlier, Helga Crane is a true representation of Nella Larsen`s life (Thaggert, 47). Nella Larsen is typically telling her story through Helga Crane. Helga Crane in the story therefore represents the early times of Nella Larsen`s life. Helga Crane goes through a number of steps as she tries to find the best place that she would feel comfortable staying. The very first step that Helga takes is quitting her job place. She was working at Naxos Negro boarding school as a teacher. She ends up quitting because she feels quite uncomfortable working there. According to Nella, the main character finds herself quite frustrated by the attitudes of people, especially the blacks in Naxos towards racism. This makes her to take a hard decision of leaving her fiancé, whom they used to teach at the same place. According to Helga, she feels that, her fiancé is best suited for the stay at Naxos while Helga personally feels unfit to stay (Thaggert, 48). “Nexos Negro knew what was expected of them,” this statement shows that, Naxos were well behaved but Helga was a rebellious woman (32).

Helga finds herself in a dilemma situation. She goes to a place where there more of black people, consequently, she finds herself missing the whites. This leaves Helga Crane confused. The author further says, and then she goes to a place where there are more of whites and the same thing happens again (Thaggert, 50). Helga is typically looking for a diversified culture and race. She takes long moving from one place to another and she typically fails to find what she was looking for. At last, she finds a comfort in God. Nella states, after Helga gives birth, she again feels quite depressed when she remembers a series of struggles of racial identification that she was going through before.

Conclusion

Finally, Nella Larsen`s writings, Quicksand is basically a story of how she faced hardships in her earlier life. She uses Helga as a clear reflection of her earlier life. Therefore, getting a clear understanding of the novel, there are several lessons we can learn about racial oppression, through Helga Crane. Helga Crane`s struggles in the novel are again a reflection of what happens to people who are facing racial oppression in their societies. Racial status and self-identification is an everyday crisis.