Helga's Problem With Commitment in Nella Larsen's Quicksand
In Nella Larsen's Quicksand, Helga Crane passively opts out of situations; her actions are consistently reactionary. Helga’s anxiety is the figurative “quicksand” in which she sinks throughout the novel: Helga is too afraid to commit to a decision and thus flees geographically, failing to realize she can not find happiness through avoiding decisions.
Naxos is the first place Helga leaves to flee from commitments. Her engagement to James Vayle makes Helga feel both “shame” and “power,” so she expects to feel “relief” upon canceling the plans (1533). Only once she has left Naxos does Helga realize that “she couldn't have married him...Certainly she had never loved him,” (1543) confirming her earlier speculation. In contrast to her desire to escape the institution of marriage, Helga waivers in deciding to leave Naxos: after Dr. Anderson responds to her announcement, Helga felt “an insistent need to be a part of [his plans] spr[i]ng in her...[w]ith compunction tweaking at her heart for even having entertained the notion of deserting him” (1540). Her reaction could be motivated by aspirations of educating and improving the students of Naxos, but is more likely evoked by the “mystifying yearning” (1540) she experiences while listening to Dr. Anderson. Therefore Helga does not abscond her job, as she had resolved to stay (1541), but the exploration of her feelings; later, Helga even denotes her impulse to leave “illogical” (1541). In any case, Helga can not bear the future she sees for herself at Naxos, as she thinks, “To remain seemed too hard” (1534).
Helga ironically speaks positively of Chicago in noting the “freedom” (1544) it provides her. Since she lacks bot...
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...ndon her children (1609); she has trapped herself by anxiously fleeing from free choices, making only reactionary decisions. Larsen describes Helga's reflection: “She had ruined her life[, m]ade it impossible ever again to do the things that she wanted” (1608) by making an inauthentic choice and compromising herself and her happiness.
Larsen notes how Helga is “unused to happiness,” (1542) and how she wonders, “What, exactly...was happiness” (1535). The only hit of Helga’s happiness is her love for Dr. Anderson, and her only true reaction is her consequent disappointment over destroying her potential happiness with him: Helga ultimately realizes “how passionate, how deeply she must have loved him,” (1605) making her inaction tragic.
Work Cited
Larsen, Nella. Quicksand and Passing. 1929. Ed. Deborah E. McDowell. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1986.
The biographic features of a writer usually have an influence on the development of his or her literary creation. The biographic influence is especially strong on the literary work of Flannery O'Connor. Her life and experiences are reflected through her work in themes, characters, descriptions and style. There are two important features of her life, which had marked the short stories and novels of Flannery O'Connor: The South of the United States and her religion, Catholicism. These two aspects are reflected in her vision of life, society and above all in the vision of the human race.
...ition, she presents the reader with the differing generations of the old and new south, and she illustrates the contrasting views between the two. O’Connor is not afraid to question Christian theology or the Southern culture. Her irony and satire add depth to ther stories, and her deep cultural analysis of the South brings a higher level to her writings. O’Connor also explores the concept of fallen human nature and how it is brought about. Overall, O’Connor’s works prove to be very in depth in both her social and cultural analysis of the South. She is not afraid to critique the society in which she grew up and lived.
The first encounter with Helga Crane, Nella Larsen’s protagonist in the novel Quicksand, introduces the heroine unwinding after a day of work in a dimly lit room. She is alone. And while no one else is present in the room, Helga is accompanied by her own thoughts, feelings, and her worrisome perceptions of the world around her. Throughout the novel, it becomes clear that most of Helga’s concerns revolve around two issues- race and sex. Even though there are many human character antagonists that play a significant role in the novel and in the story of Helga Crane, such as her friends, coworkers, relatives, and ultimately even her own children, her race and her sexuality become Helga’s biggest challenges. These two taxing antagonists appear throughout the novel in many subtle forms. It becomes obvious that racial confusion and sexual repression are a substantial source of Helga’s apprehensions and eventually lead to her tragic demise.
of the book. Ed. Charles Bohner and Lyman Grant. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006. Fitzgerald, F. Scott.
To the uninitiated, the writing of Flannery O'Connor can seem at once cold and dispassionate, as well as almost absurdly stark and violent. Her short stories routinely end in horrendous, freak fatalities or, at the very least, a character's emotional devastation. Working his way through "Greenleaf," "Everything that Rises Must Converge," or "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the new reader feels an existential hollowness reminiscent of Camus' The Stranger; O'Connor's imagination appears a barren, godless plane of meaninglessness, punctuated by pockets of random, mindless cruelty.
Flannery O’Connor was born Mary Flannery O’Connor on March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, as the only child to Edward F. O’Connor, Jr., and Regina (Cline) O’Connor. Later in 1941, Flannery O’Connor’s father dies of lupus while O’Connor is in Milledgeville, Ga. After her father’s death, O’Connor rarely speaks of him and continues to be active in school projects such as drawing, reading, writing, and playing instraments. Further, in the summer of 1942, O’Connor graduates and enters Georgia State College for Women as a sociology and English major. Moreover, O’Connor took on the name Flannery O’Connor, dropping Mary from her signature. When O’Connor graduates from college, she leaves for Iowa City and applies for several college teaching positions while attending the University of Iowa. Thus, she receives her Masters of Fine Arts in 1947. Although her first story, “The Geranium” was publised in Accent, during the summer of 1946, it was only the beginning of many of her works to be published. Like her father, O’Connor was living with lupus and her first major attack came in December, 1950. However, O’Connor did not allow the disease to keep her from writing and getting her works published. In fact, she got her nineth story , “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” published. Also, O’Connor has won many prizes and awards with her writings over the years. For instance, she was named the Honorary Doctor of Letters by institutions, was the first prize of the O. Henry award in 1957 and 1963 and had previously won second in 1954 and 1955. Moreover, O’Connor died on August 3, 1964 I a Milledgeville hospital. Nevertheless, her stories cont...
In the mid 1900’s, America experienced many changes, from society and politics to religion and literature. Countries were facing the aftermath of World War II, and authors of the time reflected on how the world was dealing with the changes. Flannery O’Connor, a prominent Catholic writer from the South, was one of the many who examined society and shared their philosophies. O’Connor shocked her twentieth century readers with the haunting style and piercing questions in her short stories and novels, which were centered on a combination of her life experiences, her deep Catholic faith, and the literature of the time.
Meth is not only highly addictive it is easily "cooked" in homes across the country. Unlike some drugs, which are derived from natural sources, meth includes an array of dangerous chemicals. These chemicals can include battery acid, rat poison and motor oil.
Hedda Gabler is a text in which a very domineering society drives a woman to her suicidal death. Many argue that Hedda’s death is an act of courage, as rebellion against the rules of the society, however other believe that Hedda’s actions show cowardice, as she is unable to cope with the harsh reality of the her situation. Hedda's singular goal throughout the play has been to prove that she is still in possession of free will. Hedda shows many examples of both courage and cowardice throughout the play, differing to the character she is with.
Methamphetamine created in 1919 in Japan. It went into wide use for both sides during World War II and it was especially used by Japanese pilots before their flights. Once the war was over, leftover storage of Methamphetamine went public resulting in extremely high amounts of abuse with this drug. During the 1950’s this drug was used as a diet aid and was also used in the thought that it helped to fight depression. It was also over used by college students, truck drivers, and athletes because of its easy availability. This pattern increased remarkably in the 1960’s when this drug became more available in an injectable form. The United States Government in the 1970’s made Meth, for most uses, illegal which then resulted in Mexican drug trafficking organizations to set up large labs in California. Today most of this drug that is available comes from Thailand, Myanmar, and China. (History of Methamphetam...
While there are a large variety of illegal drugs out on the streets currently, one of the most well-known is methamphetamine. Most people today know of the drug, but do not understand how it came into existence. Knowing the history is important, because it can help one to better grasp how it came to be and why so many people today use the drug. Methamphetamine is a stimulant and it is extremely addictive and very powerful. Unfortunately, there are many people in various countries throughout the world that are addicted to this highly harmful drug. It is awfully difficult to recover from a methamphetamine addiction, but it is not impossible if one has the right resources, help, and support group. Many individuals do not seek the help that they need, however, and the harmful addiction often times leads to an overdose, often resulting in death. In order to make a difference in our communities, or to simply be able to understand what an addict is going through, it is a very wise idea to know the effects and background of methamphetamine. Understanding the drug’s past and how it effects the individuals will help one to better understand what the user is going through.
Methamphetamine is said to have first made its appearance in the United States as early as World War II (Anglin, Burke, Perrochet, Stamper, & Dawud-Noursi, 2000). It was given to soldiers and pilots to increase their endurance as well as their attentiveness. Roughly two decades later, a liquid form of methamphetamine became available for the treatment of heroin addiction. It wasn’t until the 1990’s where it really began to be a problem. In trailer parks across Oregon, methamphetamine abuse was at an all-time high (Byker, 2011). By 2003, meth had begun spreading throughout the United States as the number of reports of meth labs increased from as far east as Florida.
In the beginning of the written story the author reveals Hester to be a cold-hearted mother. "She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them"(75). In public she is thought of as the perfect mother, but in private she and her children know her true feelings. "Everyone else said of her: 'She is such a good mother. She adores her children.' Only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other's eyes"(75). Heste...
Hester is indeed a sinner, adultery is no light matter, even today. On the other hand, her sin has brought her not evil, but good. Her charity to the poor, her comfort to the broken-hearted, her unquestionable presence in times of trouble are all direct results of her quest for repe...
Throughout the play, there is a feeling that the room gets darker and less lively with the piano removed as well. The play takes a turn to Hedda being more clear and intentional with her manipulations. She is very bored and irritated in her general life. Her obsessive nature to cause trouble and trying to control everything is evident very early on in the play. She starts out in a quite middle-class setting and seems very annoyed at Tesman, she does not want to be close to him, yet they just returned home from their honeymoon which is supposed to be the most romantic thing at the beginning of marriage, but hers seems just tolerable. She appears to enjoy the fact that Tesman gets worried about the competition with Lovborg, it appears to give her new “fun” activity in her life. There are parts of the play that lean towards Hedda seeming slightly hysterical or bipolar as she goes from being bored and calm to loading pistols as if it is not a big deal and then grasps Thea wildly announcing her expectations for Lovborg. She seems obsessed with trying to control those around her because she has no other “outlet” to her life. Physically, she is repelled by marital sex and, however, flirtatious with the Judge, frightened by extramarital affairs. Like so many women, she is left miserable among the