Wednesday, June 22, 2011
"Was Helga Crane Ever Truly Happy?"
In Quicksand, I don't think Helga was ever truly happy. She always said she was "Happy"; however I think she was more of trying to convince herself that she was happy. Helga didn't know herself and until she accepted who she was, as a biracial woman, she would never truly find peace, happiness, or even a place where she felt she belonged. Helga thought she was happy in New York where she had a job during the day and had her nights filled with parties, theaters, friends, etc. Then she would get to a point where she began hating this life and even these people. Helga Crane was a very confused woman in my opinion and she was never satisfied with herself so of course she didn't think others accepted her either. So, she runs to Denmark thinking she would be much happier and more accepted there among her mother's people. For awhile Helga was "Happy" until she started disliking these people as well and "missing Negroes". So she goes back to New York. Helga just runs around everywhere trying to find herself and when she gets "heartbroken" by Mr. Anderson, she kind of becomes "dazed" and just quits thinking in my opinion. Therefore, she is vulnerable when she meets Rev. Green and I don't think she fully understood what she was doing when she convinced herself that she was in love with him. However, she marries him and moves to a small town in Alabama where she once again is "Happy". However, after a few children and living here for awhile, Helga once again becomes restless and seeks more. She even considers leaving knowing her children had there father and would always taken care of, not having the kind of child hood that she had. But, Helga doesn't leave because she finally starts to get accepted by the community. Helga states at the end of Quicksand, "They are all black together." However, she ended this novel thinking she still had to find a way to escape even though she didn't want to desert her children. So, no I don't believe she was ever truly happy anywhere or with anyone.
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I agree I don't think Helga was never truly happy. I think her biracial identity at a time where there was no in between being white or black caused her a lot of self-loathing. She couldn't exist as a biracial woman because society didn't have a place for her as whites stood atop the racial hierarchy while blacks sat on the bottom. Blacks accepted her while whites did not and I think that divide of being accepted by one community and rejected by the other left her angry of who she was and at society for not letting her define who she was instead of it being dictated to her by that era's racism.
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