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Chapter 2
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 walks toward Dr. Anderson’s office. After insisting she needed an appointment today, she’s been given 20 minutes at 11 o’clock. She resents that this is all the time she’s worth to people at Naxos. On her way, Helga notices the beautiful trees that seem so free among the humans at the school, who seem like prisoners in comparison.
Helga is bitter about her short appointment duration because she thinks it reflects the general atmosphere of disrespect toward people of color at Naxos. Larsen uses the juxtaposition of free trees with imprisoned people to emphasize that Naxos is an oppressive environment.
Themes
Dr. Anderson is the new school principal. Helga doesn’t know him well, but feels he’s much kinder and more well-meaning than the rest of the cruel system at Naxos. Helga becomes irate as she thinks about how annoying and uncomfortable it is that she has to be unkind to a nice man. Helga suddenly feels nervous. Although she’s inclined to turn away, she stubbornly forces herself to push through the desks in the administration building. Helga calms herself as she waits for Dr. Anderson, and thinks that at least she doesn’t have to be nice to any of the clerks sitting in front of her any more.
Helga is quick to anger when she has to face a confrontation, and experiences turbulent emotions that seem to flare up in a way that shows she doesn’t have a good handle on her emotions. Once again, when faced with feelings of anger or anxiety, her first inclination is to run away from the encounter, rather than push through her discomfort.
Themes
Helga thinks about the “dull” navy and brown colors that the clerks are forced to wear. The dean of women thinks bright colors are “vulgar” on dark skin, but Helga completely disagrees. She thinks muted colors wash out dark skin, while bright colors make it look “luminous.” It annoys her that people like the dean of women speak constantly about race pride but try to stamp out all the unique things about the black race, such as love of color, dancing, and laughter. Helga, who loves clothes, has had to subtly add small amounts of color into her wardrobe to avoid offending anyone. She chuckles to herself at how much it unnerves other staff members that she’s always so well-dressed.
Like the preacher and Miss MacGooden (the dormitory matron), Helga thinks the dean of women disempowers people of color. Helga believes the dress-code restrictions are an attempt to make people of color dress like white people and imitate white culture, instead of celebrating what is unique and special and unique about black culture. Larsen describes dark skin as “luminous” because she wants to celebrate the blackness as beautiful in its own way.
Themes
Helga is called into Dr. Anderson’s office. He’s a young principal in his 30s. Helga suddenly feels a strong urge to burst into hysterical laughter, but she controls herself, and says calmly that she’s leaving Naxos today. Dr. Anderson asks why in his deep, resonant voice, and Helga admits it’s a beautiful setting, but she doesn’t fit in. Dr. Anderson smiles a little, and Helga is immediately angered that he is so relaxed. She suddenly feels angry and wants to hurt him. She says deliberately that she hates Naxos, and it's a petty, cruel, unjust institution that puts people down instead of lifting them up. In fact, it’s more of a “disease” than a school.
Larsen’s description of Dr. Anderson’s deep and resonant voice is another example of her overall effort to describe people of color as beautiful. It also suggests that Helga is attracted to Dr. Anderson. Through the voice of Helga, Larsen communicates her thoughts that institutions like Naxos—where people of color are schooled to imitate white culture in order to better themselves—are oppressive, even though they purport to be empowering.
Themes
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Dr. Anderson asks if Helga will stay and help him fix Naxos. She notices his piercing, gray eyes. Helga says that people don’t like her, and she feels like she can’t be herself here. When Dr. Anderson realizes that Helga is only 22, he says she’ll grow less sensitive to injustice, which happens in every community. He pleads with her to stay, talking earnestly about the chance to do something great. Helga suddenly feels compelled to help him, and wants to stay. Dr. Anderson says they need people like Helga. She’s a “lady.” Helga suddenly feels enraged, and retorts that her father was a gambler who abandoned her white immigrant mother. She doesn’t even know if they were married. With that, Helga says she’s leaving today, and storms out of the room.
Helga notices Dr. Anderson’s eyes because she is attracted to him. Even though Helga is moved by Dr. Anderson’s speech, she reacts with sudden, uncontrollable anger because she doesn’t handle herself well when faced with romantic feelings like attraction. Helga tends to repress her emotions rather than process them, so she doesn’t know how to control herself when intense feelings rise up in her. In this passage, the reader learns that Helga had a troubled childhood as a mixed-race girl after her black father abandoned her and her white mother. Helga feels shame and anger when people compliment her—as Dr. Anderson does—as she struggles to accept her racial identity.
Themes
