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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Quicksand, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Race, Segregation, and Society
Mixed-Race Identity
Racial Shame and Emotional Repression
Race, Beauty, and Exoticism
Religion, Poverty, and Oppression
Summary
Analysis
Helga wakes the next morning, feeling broken, isolated, humiliated, and utterly rejected. She runs into the street in frustration and walks furiously but aimlessly through a heavy rainstorm. A gust of wind blows Helga into a gutter as the clouds rip open and a torrent of rain mercilessly floods the street. Helga drags herself up and hauls herself into the nearest building, which turns out to be a church full of people singing hymns. Overcome with nerves, she collapses to the floor and laughs hysterically, as the people turn and stare at her in shocked silence.
Larsen leverages the violent rainstorm as a metaphor for Helga’s emotions. Helga doesn’t know how to process her emotions but they are too strong for her to push them away, and she feels utterly broken.
Themes
Suddenly, Helga finds herself being picked up and put in a chair as the singing resumes. A woman behind Helga starts to weep audibly. Helga starts to cry as well, at first quietly, but then in violent, cathartic sobs. People start to pat her and proclaim “yes chile.” They stomp and throw their hands up in the air shouting “Come to Jesus, yo poor lost Jezebel.” Helga is alarmed and shrinks away as the preacher starts praying for her soul. She’s equal parts amused and angry, but too entertained to leave. The congregation starts to chant in a cultish frenzy, and Helga is mesmerized that they are all praying for a single soul: hers.
The rare dose of humor in this scene foreshadows Larsen’s criticisms of religious belief that will dominate the final chapters of Helga’s story. Larsen’s tongue-in-cheek description of the frenzied congregation is clearly intended to seem a bit absurd and theatrical. Her appeal to humor thus provides a hint to the reader that a criticism of religious belief is about to follow. The phrasing and spelling of shouts communicate that the congregation is likely made up of black people from the South.
Themes
Suddenly Helga feels an overwhelming urge to join in. A little freaked out, Helga gets up to leave, but she hasn’t eaten anything for well over a day, so she collapses into the railing, feeling as if she might throw up. People crowd around her and start screaming. Helga starts screaming too. A “thunderclap of joy” surrounds her and people stretch out their arms toward her. They fall to their knees, crawl around, rip off their clothes, and tear out their hair in a savage frenzy, dripping tears and sweat all over Helga. All of a sudden, Helga feels miraculously calm, and a surge of happiness soars through her.
Helga’s church encounter continues to have comical undertones, which is particularly evident when the crowd is described as crawling around and ripping their clothing and hair. The thunderstorm of Helga’s pain has been overtaken by a “thunderclap of joy,” indicating that she is about to go through a transition. Helga’s feeling of calm and joy has a profound effect on her: this is a rare moment in her life when she feels at ease. The experience drives her into a spontaneous adoption of religious belief as an attempt to find peace of mind.
Themes
