Nella Larsen

The Worst of Both Worlds, and the Best of Neither Helga Crane's racial mixedness as a mulatto in Nella Larsen's novel Quicksand divides her socially, emotionally, and geographically, and suspends her in a perpetual "in between" status. Her uncanny role results from a combination of qualities that simultaneously identify her with, and distance her from, each side of her ancestry. Helga's identity becomes taboo because it leads her "diverging in two contrary directions"(Freud 24) that

2013530423 Huang, Daisy American Literature Christina Davis Feb. 12, 2016 The Consciousness of African American Female in Quicksand Citing a few lines by Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen starts to pursue and construct racial and gender identity of African American Female in her prestigious novel Quicksand, concerns much about the mixed-raced female’s perturbation of double consciousness and identity quest. Due to the similar trajectories between the author and the heroine Helga Crane, Quicksand has

African Americans endured in these days of slavery. For the white man to mistreat them as if they were animals, is unforgiving. But we worship an awesome God and as long as the whites have repented they can be forgiven. I never thought that I would come to learn pain and disgrace of a human being (thinking they’re superior) of the other simply because of their skin color until I saw the documentary of Slave after Slave (12 years a slave documentary). To see the lynching that took place during that

In Nella Larsen’s Quicksand, a biracial woman by the name of Helga Crane faces a number of trials and tribulations that challenge her social and cultural identity. Throughout the novel, Helga is challenged with socially, culturally, and sexually misplaced while living among social elites and the bourgeois, which ironically leads her to a place of isolation. Her dissatisfaction with her life, onset by her sense of displacement, causes her to take flight in many situations she faces. Despite the fact

The Harlem Renaissance is a cultural, artistic, and social explosion that happened between World War 1 and the 1930’s. Obviously this happened in Harlem. At the time Harlem was a cultural center. The Harlem Renaissance was like the end of a bondage, and the bondage was known as slavery. When the African-Americans moved up north it was because of the White Supremacy went into power down south. The White Supremacy violently and legally restored the south where most African-Americans live. The White

reading the psychoanalysis theories by Sigmund Freud along with some readings by Parker and Tyson I have found myself understanding texts differently. I am going to expose how psychoanalysis relates to the following texts: A&P short story, Passing by Nella Larsen, The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald and the movie The Crying Game by Neil Jordan. First, in the A&P story by John Updike we can see how Sammy experiences projection when he starts taking it on his boss. Apparently, he is overwhelmed by his

navy blue are the most becoming colors for colored people", "Dark-complected people shouldn't wear yellow, or green or red."(Larsen 561) This thought comes from the speech of the dean of women. The word "shouldn't" shows that it is the mandatory command to dark-complexioned people. But also in this paragraph, Helaga have seen a "sooty black girl in a flaming orange dress"(Larsen 561). The dress fits her very well. Dressing what kind of dressings or what color of the dressings is the freedom to a person

the musical aspects of the folk, many artists turned to writing short stories, that later turned into America's well known artistic expressions. Folk- art that expresses oral traditions influenced Harlem Renaissance writers such as Charles Chestnut, Nella Larson, and Richard Wright and their works by conveying shared community values and aesthetics, fostering connections between arts, and providing a creative spirit that unites different cultures of the

Have you ever been riding down the road listening to radio station and think I wonder how many people were involved in making this happen? The same could go for a good book you’re reading. The Harlem Renaissance is one of those. It took an entire movement to make it happen. Look at the wonderful things to come from it {Jazz, NAACP, and multiple iconic literary books that are still read today}. The Harlem Renaissance created the golden age for African Americans culture as they communicated their feelings

may appear fragile, docile, and porous to the desires of men, their course of action as they overcome their adversity would prove their character to be strong, willful, and self-reliant. Authors Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, in “The England Nun,” and Nella Larsen, in “Sanctuary,” portray protagonists that exhibit characteristics of strong-will and independence that resist the social confinements of their time. In both cases, the protagonists have to overcome the obstacle that is classified as an internal