Zest – (noun) –  an enjoyably exciting quality

In Chapter 1 I happened to stumble across the word zest. On page 11 paragraph 2 the word comes up in the beginning of the paragraph.

“Helga Crane had taught in Naxos for almost two years, at first with the keen joy and zest of those immature people who have dreamed dreams of doing good to their fellow men. But gradually this zest was blotted out, giving place to a deep hatred for the trivial hypocrisies and careless cruelties which were, unintentionally perhaps, a part of the Naxos policy of uplift.”

These two sentences tell me that the “immature people” used to be happy. But as time flew by the happiness went away and in place of the happiness hatred came. It seems that once that happiness was gone bad things started happening and the people changed.

Source- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zest