The book Quicksand by Nella Larsen depicts the life of Helga Crane, a mixed-race woman struggling to find where she belongs in early-20th-century America and Denmark. In this blog post, I will be explaining how Helga Crane’s story adheres to Victoria Schmidt's interpretation of the heroine’s journey, specifically “The Eye of the Storm” phase. In Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s version of the heroine’s journey this is described as “A small taste of success brings a false sense of security. She relaxes and takes a chance she shouldn’t take”. We see this phase come into action when Helga arrives in Denmark after a rough time between cities in the United States.
Upon her arrival in Copenhagen, Helga is struck with a feeling of confidence in her new life. This is the beginning of the eye of the storm. She is leaving the inner edge of the hurricane and things are looking up for her. Her newfound family members welcome her as if she were their own and she feels comfort in her new home and new life. She finally feels comfort and security and the reader finds relief in the fact that she is no longer in a negative state. Page 72 clearly depicts that “she was happy again” and that “happiness covered her like the lovely quilts under which she rested” and on page 74, the narrator adds that she was “inticed to inflame attention and admiration” while in Copenhagen. Helga’s initial arrival in Denmark is the “small taste of success” that defines the “Eye of the Storm” step in Quicksand.
This feeling of peace in Helga Crane’s journey does not last long, as soon she begins to feel an unease with her new life in Denmark. She’s constantly on the spot in every situation she finds herself in and realizes that her aunt and uncle are using her as somewhat of an artifact to show their friends how “exotic” their relatives are. They push her to become the muse of Axel Olsen’s paintings, which is something that she does not feel comfortable with and describes her image as “some disgusting sensual creature with her features” (Larsen 89). The sense of security that the heroine’s journey phase “Eye of the Storm” suggests fades away.
Her life in Denmark finally starts to unravel when Axel Olsen asks her for her hand in marriage, and she declines. This was the final straw and her motivation to leave Denmark altogether and return to America. The following quote illustrates Helga Crane’s decreasing enjoyment of living in Copenhagen: “Well into Helga’s second year in Denmark, came an indefinite discontent… it was long before she would admit that she was less happy than she had been during her first year in Copenhagen” (Larsen 81). She is now exiting the eye of the storm and returning to the blunder of her life, as she makes the decision to pack her bags and head back to New York City, thus transitioning into the next step of the heroine’s journey, “Death - All is Lost”.
Hi Ellen. I really enjoyed reading your analysis of the 'Eye of the Storm' part of Helga's journey. While I do agree with you that the majority of the 'Eye of the Storm' stage takes place in Denmark, I believe that this stage began long before Helga even got to Denmark. Ever since Helga stepped foot outside of Naxos, she has been in the 'Eye of the Storm' stage but it gets portryaed once Helga gets to Denmark. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great mapping of the Eye of the Storm onto the narrative of Quicksand, an admittedly subtle and hard-to-identify stage of Helga's transformation and journey. Particularly, one could argue that Helga's very character is symbolized by this step -- a constant, sometimes subconscious, dissatisfaction with her current life, much like the calm before the storm.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Ellen! I like how you connect Helga's time in Copenhagen to the Eye of the Storm stage in Victoria Schmidt's heroine's journey while also illustrating one of the many cycles Helga experiences throughout Quicksand. No matter where she goes, whether it's Naxos, Harlem, or Copenhagen, Helga begins satisfied, aligning with either her masculine or feminine identities, but soon becomes dissatisfied with her environment as she feels that she is trying to fit into a place she doesn't belong instead of trying to find a place that encompasses her. In Copenhagen, she initially is reconnecting with her mother's family and aligning with her feminine side, but soon becomes dissatisfied as the people in Denmark treat her as an exotic creature due to her darker skin color (a trait from her African-American father). So, she leaves Copenhagen to accept and freely express the masculine and African-American part of her identity.
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