Quicksand By Nella Larsen Analysis
First published in1928, Quicksand is considered as a great work of a biracial female’s experience. Living in the period of Harlem Renaissance, Nella Larsen focused on African American. “Wars come and go, but my soldiers stay eternal.” Said Tupac Shakur, once the monarch of Inca Empire. Similarly, the world keeps changing and developing, while race issue and gender problem are always significant focuses of American citizens. In Quicksand, the protagonist Helga Crane’s life experience clearly shows the subtleness of those problems and how they influence a person.
Helga Crane was half white and half black, and she was a teacher in Naxos, a school of black students. As a teacher, Helga disliked the education in Naxos because students were not encouraged …show more content…
However, Quicksand is not. From biracial character to the unhappy ending, the whole story indeed make people want to read it. In fact, the story was originated from Nella Larsen’s own life. Nella had a Danish mother and an African American father. Firstly, she was trained to be a nurse, while she became a writer. Nevertheless, it is hard for her to be a writer because she failed to publish her work several times. Eventually, she became a nurse again and finished her career (Duffin, Jacalyn). Obviously, Helga represents Nella and Nella’s personal experience became the blueprint of Helga’s life. People always say “One could make others moved by making himself moved first.” Different from ordinary stories about race, Quicksand is the epitome of its author, and thus readers will think the story is real and touching.
Gender issue is another eternal theme of literatures. Hundreds years ago, people started to realize that women should be equal to men because they were intelligent and helpful. From home trifles to battlefield support, females showed their abilities to prove that they were not inferior then man. Actually, most women are kind and patient, so some occupations they could do better than men do. In Quicksand, Helga desired to blend in the society and get social respects, but at the same time, she also joined many activities that implicitly support that women were inferior than men
Helga Crane was half white and half black, and she was a teacher in Naxos, a school of black students. As a teacher, Helga disliked the education in Naxos because students were not encouraged …show more content…
However, Quicksand is not. From biracial character to the unhappy ending, the whole story indeed make people want to read it. In fact, the story was originated from Nella Larsen’s own life. Nella had a Danish mother and an African American father. Firstly, she was trained to be a nurse, while she became a writer. Nevertheless, it is hard for her to be a writer because she failed to publish her work several times. Eventually, she became a nurse again and finished her career (Duffin, Jacalyn). Obviously, Helga represents Nella and Nella’s personal experience became the blueprint of Helga’s life. People always say “One could make others moved by making himself moved first.” Different from ordinary stories about race, Quicksand is the epitome of its author, and thus readers will think the story is real and touching.
Gender issue is another eternal theme of literatures. Hundreds years ago, people started to realize that women should be equal to men because they were intelligent and helpful. From home trifles to battlefield support, females showed their abilities to prove that they were not inferior then man. Actually, most women are kind and patient, so some occupations they could do better than men do. In Quicksand, Helga desired to blend in the society and get social respects, but at the same time, she also joined many activities that implicitly support that women were inferior than men