For our final discussion on Quicksand, let’s think about Helga’s life after she leaves New York. Write a comment–roughly 150-200 words–in which you consider one of the following issues:
*what motivates Helga to leave New York?
*why does she leave the way she does?
*what’s different about her life in her new locale?
*do you think Helga will again repeat her pattern of enjoying a place, tiring of it, and then leaving it? Why or why not?
*what message do you think the novel conveys overall through its ending?
Then comment on one other comment, roughly 100-150 words.
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At the end of Quicksand we see that Helga leaves New York after she gets married with Rev. Green. She states that she wanted to leave all the sins and temptations behind her and moves to Alabama where she clearly becomes and house wife. This is whats different from every other place she has lived in . Shes not exploring her new home because she is getting used to in living as the wife of the Rev. I think that Helga will not repeat the same pattern of enjoying a place and leaving after she is tired of it because know their is kids involved although at the end of the story she is really not paying attention to them or caring for them i do believe she loves them. I say this because she states that she cant leave her children behind because she didnt want them to grow unloved like she did. I feel that throughout the story their is many messages that trying to be send but one important one is to never keep asking for more when you have enough. I feel as if Helga kept on looking for something “perfect” when in reality we know that perfect doesnt exist. Everywhere she went in trying to find happiness she will enjoy it until she found something to make her live to a new place. Helga was never satisfied any where she went. Helga was lookin and in serach of so much happiness that she ended up in a place that she wasnt happy at all. A place that she thought will never be and blamed God for putting her in that situation.
Hay ! I agree with your post , throughout the story she didn’t know who she was and she didn’t know what she wanted. In terms of her children I feel that she herself was confused as to if she really loved them and if she wanted them. Yes yes probably did love her children as will any mother but I don’t believe she is mentally ready to care for anyone but herself. If I were to define Helga , I wouldn’t be able to because Helga herself can’t define who she really is. Since Helga is half black and half white she is unsure of herself and what side she will define herself as.helga reminds me of my friend she is half black and half Asian she is 24 and she still is confused on what to identify herself as. Helga is really confused and until she can identify herself then it will be easier for her to make her life choices. But to be honest o dont think she has to choose. Helga is mixed child and she should imbacre it instead of hiding it !
Throughout the story, the message that is conveyed is if you don’t know who you are, you will waste your time trying to have people and places reveal it to you. Helga never knew who she was, nor did she take the time to find out. This is why she always got tired of being around the people in each location. Being half black and half white made this discovery even harder for her. She was looking for a place to fit in, where she felt that all of her would be accepted. The problem was that she wasn’t accepting all her, so she would always have an acceptance issue. I think the best thing Helga could’ve done for herself is travel somewhere away from civilization into solitude and be alone. If she had made a trip to a quiet country, where she wasn’t surrounded by a lot of people, she could avoid starting relationships and make finding herself a priority. This would’ve forced her to discover the root of her problem and she would truly be content with herself and settle somewhere.
I agree with your response. All Helga wanted her whole life was happiness. She search everywhere just to find that peace she wanted.I think if Helga travel somewhere else way from civilization that will only make her problem worst. She would feel even more alone and lost. She wouldn’t have the opportunity to interact with people and decide on who she really is.
Zenia, I completely agree with your post. I believe Helga never gave herself a chance to figure out who she was or enough time to figure out if she actually liked her new location upon moving. I agree that Helga being half black and half white made it even harder for her, but only because she didn’t want to fully accept that she was mixed. I also agree that if she took the time out to go to a quiet place to live for a bit, she would have certainly solved her issues and insecurities within herself. I believe Helga was looking for happiness in all the wrong places.
In this novel, I believe the message that is conveyed is that sometimes it’s really difficult to find yourself. It is occasionally a challenge to figure out where you’d really like to be in life. There comes a time where everyone has to figure out what their main goals are, what career they’d like to pursue, and who they really are themselves. I believe the first step to finding yourself, is first accepting and embracing yourself. I think Helga went through many phases but never actually gave anything a change before making her decisions. Another message that I believe is being conveyed is that you cannot go everywhere looking for happiness. Sometimes, you just have to stick out your issues and be happy with what god has given you. I do not think Helga will again repeat her pattern of enjoying a place, tiring of it and then leaving it because she’s had enough of that. I believe after her marriage and children she has learned to grow and think through her decisions better.
I totally agree with all your points and messages this story is trying to send. Its true what you said helga never gave herself a chance to actually be happy. Everytime she traveled some where she found something that made her feel uncomfortable to move some where else instead of working with what bothered her to make it better. I do believe that if Helga didnt have her children she would of left Rev. Green because she was unhappy and went to a new place to try to find happiness . The only thing holding her back from nothing leaving his her children other than that i think she would of continued to do what she she always did everything she didnt like a place. Get up a leave!
Would you say that at the end of the novel she is content with her choice to marry Rev. Green and have a family with him? I ask this of each of you who has responded already, as well as those of you looking to respond to them–this is an important question for us to consider.
i honestly believe that she was not content with her choice to marry Rev. Green and start a family with him because they really didnt know eachother . Helga didnt really know Rev Green other then he was a religious man and walked her to her room when she was feeling sick. I think she used this marriage as some type of escape because she did mention in the book she will marry and man and god. i fell she was so tired of trying and trying to find happiniess that maybe if she turned into religion and a person who practice she would. Helga was happy at the beginning of her marriage till the point where she saw herself either having a new coming child or takin care of one.
I feel that at the end, Helga was not content with her decision to Marry Rev green and have a family with him. Helga crane has yet again found some reason to search for that fulfillment that she has yet to find. I feel that had she not been sick, she would probably have left at the first thought of it. Her faith in her strength at the end, seems to only be coming from the thought of leaving once again. It was easier for her to think about “freedom, and cities, and clothes, and books” than to deal with the life she had made for herself. She was again “oppressed” and now had children to consider. Though she felt that she couldn’t desert them, it certainly was a thought. Her children may be the only reason aside from her not having the physical strength, for her to stay put this time.
Towards the end of Quicksand, Helga wanders around in a storm until she comes upon a church meeting. She feels the need to pray and cleanse her soul. There she meets Reverend Pleasant Green, whom she happily marries the very next day. They move to Alabama and by her fourth child Helga realizes how much she hates her husband and her life. Once gain she makes plans to leave but she decides to wait until she feels better. The story ends with the birth of her fifth child. With so many possibilities and chances offered to her, Helga is tied to a lifetime of unhappiness. Now that she has kids, I don’t think Helga will again repeat her pattern of enjoying a place, tiring of it, and then leaving it. I felt like Rev. Green is the exact opposite of both James Vayle and Axel Olsen. Both of these men were prestigious in their own circle, Rev. Green is only known much less respected within a small church. Both James Vayle and Axel Olsen seem to be interested in Helga romantically but Rev. Green took her as someone to bear him children and keeps her as necessity, no feeling of love was mentioned. She chose to be simple and let go her past but at the end she was not happy with her decision.
Helga is motivated to leave New York, because she no longer feels right in New York. Her friend, Anne has married the man that Helga has feelings for and she has lost the thrive of enjoying her time in the city. She leaves after marrying rev. Green to Alabama, because she feels he is right for her. Helga percieves that by marrying him she is close to God. Helga becomes a housewife with five children, who no longer is seeking for that “perfect “something. After sometime, Helga grows tired and realizes she has made a mistake and cannot go back to her old ways, of leaving to find a new adventure. The novel is conveying that Helga tried to make sense of her feelings of not belonging through marrying and having children thinking she would feel like she belonged somewhere. The reality became that she could not go back to her adventure seeking ways, because now, she was a mother and had responsibilities. She regrets her decision and feels she took for granted her liberty and ability to explore.
All Helga Cane wants in her life is acceptance. She travels from place to place just fill the emptiness she feels. She finds it really hard to fit in with either white’s or blacks. The message I believe the novel conveys overall is you can’t always get the results you want if you constantly push things away. In Helga’s situation she contently moves to a different location just when she seem to be adjusting. When she became the preachers she had three children. This is suppose to bring her happiness but Helga ends up depressed and ending with the same racial identity and social class issues.
The life of Helga Crane has been very interesting. Though she doesn’t seem to be a tourist, it is evident that she is traveling in search of something. Helga has traveled from Denmark, Chicago. Naxos, New York, Back to Denmark Copenhagen, back to New York, and has not found a place to call “home”. There is always something so right that boots her drive, and she enjoys it there, but any minute distraction from her comfort zone pushes her out. I feel that Helga Crane will continue to move about the earth, from continent to continent, and state to state . Helga is so stubborn, and confused that she is bound to leave a good thing behind. Helga seems to be moved by anything that is unfitting of her opinion at the time. She is so unsure of herself, and what to embrace about her identity that she uses outside factors that may, or may not personally affect her to determine her next “mission”. Maybe if there was a part two of Quicksand we would see Helga find some stability. I feel that her discomfort from within causes her to have a distorted vision of what actually is, or can be, therefore she can’t see past the present to build a foundation in one place. Places and people are like Old clothes to Helga, They are good for the season, and put away until they come back in style. I personally believe that Helga may revisit each of those places one day.
Posted too quick, this is not letting me edit, but My last sentence is
I feel that even if Helga will not revisit those places physically, in her mind she will. She seems dissatisfied, yet again.
In the novel, quicksand by Nella Larsen, we find that the protagonist Helga
crane is yet again unhappy with her life. She finds that her choice of marrying
Rev. Greene is a mistake and regrets her decisions (yet again). Helga realizes
that she used religion as an escape but now, she is stuck in a position where
she is unhappy with her choices and doesn’t believe in religion or even a god.
Helga has yet another change of heart and realizes she really loved another man.
I think here the realization comes that Helga would have never been completely
happy or fulfilled, she is always looking at the other side of the fence. I also
realized that her decision to have children is also seen as a mistake in her
eyes, as when (spoiler) she is told her infant is born and died and she closes
her eyes to hide her relief. I believe the overall message is that Helga will never seem to find true happiness and will always be dissatisfied with her choices in her search to find a place where she fit in.
Helga leaves New York for the same reason she left the other places she visited she no longer feels that New York has anything left for her throughout the novel Helga is struggling to find soothing, but the problem is she doesn’t know what she wants she only knows what she doesn’t want. Helga repeats her pattern of enjoying a place, tiring of it, and then leaving it costly getting tired of locations because of minor inconveniences to her. Helga than is forced to settle down with a man she does not love all because of her indecisiveness. Helga maries a pastor in Alabama and births five children from that man, the novel ends with her realizing that in her moment of doubt and vulnerability she made a mistake. Helga choose surrender her freedom to choose her own destination at will, she was no longer a free spirit she was tide to her children and her husband.