What do we know about Helga Crane?

• likes nice stuff
• likes exotic things? foreign? imports?
• reads books
• alone–>lonely?
• chooses gloom, low light
• as a teacher: enjoys it, gives “willingly and unsparingly”–but it’s taxing
• forced isolation: doesn’t open her door to other teachers
• 22 years old
• blue-black hair, “skin like yellow satin” : attractive
• is she crafting her appearance in a detailed way?

What do we know about the world she lives in?

• her room is filled with her nice things
• lots of books
• she has a large room amid other people’s rooms
• “soft gloom”
• in the South
• she’s in a metaphorical desert: big shift from day to night
• her coworkers are unkind and gossipy
• she’s insignificant in the huge institution
• she lives on campus where other teachers live