As the novel began, I got a sense that Helga liked the quiet and being alone because she didn’t like where she was at Naxos. She was also described as being irritated and having a lot of anger. Helga liked teaching at Naxos at first, but after 2 years, she began to hate it. They were racist at Naxos, and since Helga is biracial, this could have been a reason why she started hating it. She could have also felt angry because in the novel it says that she was like a pity case for her uncle and because she had “negro blood” she would never amount to anything. I don’t believe that that was the life she wanted for herself.
“Most of her earnings had gone into clothes, into books, into the furnishings of the room which held her. All her life Helga Crane had loved and longed for nice things. Indeed, it was this craving, this urge for beauty which had helped to bring her disfavor in Naxos- “pride” and “vanity” her detractors called it.” (pg 14)
This passage shows me that Helga could not be who she wanted to be in Naxos and so this is why she was unhappy there. It also wasn’t the lifestyle that she wanted. I believe that she longed to be successful because of all the thing that she wanted. It’s interesting because Helga’s character seems like its constantly changing to me. This is one reason why I really don’t believe she was happy at Naxos. I believe that what she experienced there wasn’t what she thought she thought the experience would be like because why else would she hate teaching at Naxos if she liked it at first. Helga’s character was also developing because of the people that she was around, like the singing children that she loved and James, who she was with because they were both lonely.
