What do we know about Helga Crane? About her surrounding environment and the people who populate it?

• Dr. Anderson: the school’s new principal: she likes him; she doesn’t like him; he thinks she has good breeding and she reacts badly to this. He has grey eyes. (does this mean he is biracial as well?)

Are we sympathetic to Helga or angered by her? Can we relate to her?

• her moods change so frequently
• feels like an outsider, can’t connect
• never satisfied–there’s excitement in her wanting something
• lack of family support may be different than our experience

think about time: analepsis (flashback) and prolepsis (flash forward)

think about repetition: what gets repeated must be important somehow

Think about:

train scene (ch 4)

arriving in Chicago (ch 5)

looking for work (ch 6)

treats herself even though she’s low on cash, denies herself food

Mrs. Hayes-Rore (ch 7)