At the beginning of the novel Quicksand by Nella Larsen starts with a sentence that would anticipate both the plot and characterization of the novel. The protagonist Helga Crane two year old, an unhappy teacher. Helga a mixed race, her mother was white and her father was black. It seems as a child she was a very lonely person. She has not been able to identify herself as either white or black. Helga is a teacher at Naxos, a wealthy boarding school in the South that educates black children. Helga becomes extremely frustrated with the school’s segregationist race politics.
“… if all Negroes would only take a leaf out of the book of Naxos and conduct themselves in the manner of the Naxos products there would be no race problem, because Naxos Negroes knew what was expected of them. They had good sense and they had good taste. They knew enough to stay in their places, and that, said the preacher, showed good taste. He spoke of his great admiration for the Negro race, no other race in so short a time had made so much progress, but he had urgently besought them to know when and where to stop.” (p. 5-6 ) The white minister tells them that if all black people knew their place like the black people on Naxos, there would be no problems. This is an example of how judgmental the whites were against the blacks. Helga is upset and vows to leave Naxos. This shows Helga’s frustration towards the school of segregationist race politics.
The minister’s speech certainly seemed very judgmental to me also. Throughout the novel can see the struggle of Helga to forge an identity for herself that is free of the bonds placed on her by society. The protagonists of Quicksand tried to create an identity that transcend racial boundaries and because of this desire Helga had trouble relating completely to either white society or black society and, as a result, we can see how Helga was estranged from her community.
P.S. Just to let you know, you made a mistake with Helga’s age in the second sentence of your comment.