Helga Crane Living In Harlem Analysis

Helga Crane can never fit completely into either of the societies she has chosen to associate herself with. As a bi-racial woman in the early 19th century she fits in neither with black people nor white. But there is a place where she can feel more at home and that place is Copenhagen. Her ideals, likes and dislikes align better with the society in Copenhagen than Harlem.

While Helga identified herself with African-Americans while living in Harlem this idea quickly fades as she becomes exasperated with some of the societal norms that come with living in Harlem. She hates how focused everyone is on “the race problem” and wishes to get away from it. “Even the gentle Anne distressed her. Perhaps because Anne was obsessed by the race problem and fed her obsession.” (p. 50-51) When Helga first came to Harlem she really admired Anne for her intelligence and aesthetic sense when it came to interior decoration. But the longer she stayed in Harlem among purely African-Americans, the more hypocritical she found Anne to be: “Anne’s insinuations were too revolting. She had a slightly sickish feeling, and a flash of anger touched her. She mastered it and ignored Anne’s inadequate answer.” The more intellectual side of Helga becomes annoyed with Anne because she contradicts herself constantly when it comes to “the race

problem”. She condemns associating with the white people yet enjoys the things white culture has to offer. Even though Copenhagen wasn’t the perfect place to life, she never encountered the blatant hypocrisy that irritated her so much. On some level, whether intellectually, culturally or socially, Helga believes herself to be above the people in Harlem:
And when suddenly the music died, she dragged herself back to the present with a conscious effort and a shameful certainty that not only had she been in the jungle, but that she had enjoyed it, began to taunt her. She hardened her determination to get away. She wasn’t, she told herself, a jungle creature. (p. 61)
Helga has to be in control of her own feelings and Harlem drags out this other side of her that she can’t control. This loss of control scares her. She considers all of Harlem a jungle and she doesn’t creature, she automatically doesn’t fit into that society.
Helga’s exasperation with “the race problem” alters her perception of not just Anne but all the people around her: “She recoiled in aversion from the sight of the grinning faces and from the sound of the easy laughter of all these people who strolled, aimlessly now, it seemed, up and down the avenues.” (p.50) When she first arrived the crowded busy streets fascinated her and everyone seemed brimming with purpose but now they just wander aimlessly. And it isn’t simply that she doesn’t like talking about it, she can’t stand the way African-Americans, and by extension she who has chosen to pass as completely African-American, are treated in American. “Marriage--that means children, to me. And why add more suffering to the world? Why add more unwanted, tortured Negroes to America?” (p. 104) She dislikes it so much that she doesn’t want to even consider the idea of having children because she knows that if they live in America their entire lives with consist of suffering.
Helga is naturally drawn to more extravagant and material things. She likes the luxury that Copenhagen, Fru and Herr Dahl, can give her. She also enjoys the attention that she gets by being an African-American woman in such a homogeneous city. “She took to luxury as the proverbial duck to water. She took to admiration and attention even more eagerly.” (p. 69) Helga is more comfortable in a society where she can live in comfort and ease. This is not to say that everyone in Harlem was poor but there were other issues that overshadowed the factor of money. “Always she had wanted, not money, but the things which money could give, leisure, attention, beautiful surroundings. Things. Things. Things.” (p. 69) This changes her entire outlook on life. We know from experience that Helga’s perceptions of other people change depending on the feelings she has surrounding them. In Harlem if people were to stare at her she would probably feel discomfort or annoyance but in Copenhagen “she was only amused.” (p. 69)
Helga Crane’s heart is split between two places on opposite sides of the globe.

She can’t be completely at home in either of these places but in all actuality, during this time period, there isn’t truly a place where Helga can feel completely at home. What she wants is to be fully accepted and in a world where racial mixing is practically a sin, and one of the races that she is mixed with is treated as no better than animals she can never be fully accepted. Tragically, her mere existence accounts for a huge amount of her unhappiness and even though she can choose to completely pass as one or the other she’ll know in her heart that no one accepts the real

Helga.