The Novel begins at the point in Helga Cranes life when she is a school teacher, She is unhappy with where she is in lfe. Helga has issues with being comfortable in her setting. Race and identity had been troubling her since child hood. Helga was outcast-ed by her black side of the family as well as her white side, Helgas mom was white and her dad was black , her father left her mom and her mother remarried to a white man,
Helga does allot of moving around trying to find a place where she fits Helga finds that when she is around whites she misses being around blacks, and when she is around blacks she misses whites. In the beginning of the story she was a loner, Solitude seems to be her best company. Helga becomes frustrated with not being able to fit in , she is a smart young beautiful woman who struggles with identity
