Quicksand

by

Nella Larsen

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Quicksand makes teaching easy.

Helga Crane

The story’s protagonist. Helga is a young biracial woman who is half-black and half-white. Helga was raised as a racial outsider by her white mother’s new white family after her black father abandoned her… read analysis of Helga Crane

Robert Anderson (Dr. Anderson)

The new principal at Naxos. He is a handsome black man with grey eyes, who unsuccessfully implores Helga to stay and help him fix the problems at Naxos. Helga is unnerved by her attraction to… read analysis of Robert Anderson (Dr. Anderson)

Anne Grey

A beautiful, affluent, 30-year-old widow living in Harlem. She invites Helga to live in her house for Helga’s first year in Harlem, and they become close friends. As a black woman, Anne is passionate about… read analysis of Anne Grey

Reverend Mr. Pleasant Green

Helga’s husband, whom she marries on a whim to spite Dr. Anderson after the Reverend escorts her home from a church that she runs into to seek shelter from a rainstorm. They move to… read analysis of Reverend Mr. Pleasant Green

Herr Axel Olsen (Herr Olsen)

A wealthy artist in Copenhagen who paints a highly sexualized portrait of Helga, which he thinks captures her true nature as a “tragic” mixed-race woman. Helga is attracted to him, but when he proposes, she… read analysis of Herr Axel Olsen (Herr Olsen)
Get the entire Quicksand LitChart as a printable PDF.
Quicksand PDF

Fru Dahl (Aunt Katrina)

Helga’s wealthy, white maternal aunt. Helga lives with Fru Dahl and her husband, Herr Dahl, in Copenhagen. Fru Dahl welcomes Helga warmly into her life, and lavishes her with extravagant, but revealing clothing… read analysis of Fru Dahl (Aunt Katrina)

Herr Dahl (Uncle Poul)

Fru Dahl’s husband. Like Fru Dahl, Herr Dahl is eager to show Helga off with the hopes of landing good social connections. He thinks Helga should capitalize on her status as the only mixed-race… read analysis of Herr Dahl (Uncle Poul)

James Vayle

A well-to-do teacher at Naxos. He is engaged to Helga at the beginning of the story. Helga doesn’t really love or respect him, and she leaves him without letting him know when she impulsively quits… read analysis of James Vayle

Sary Jones

A woman in Alabama who had six children in six years. She advises Helga that their suffering and labor in this world will be rewarded in heaven. Larsen uses Sary to represent the kind of… read analysis of Sary Jones
Minor Characters
Helga’s mother (Karen Nilssen)
A white Danish woman who died when Helga was 15 years old. Helga’s father abandoned them when Helga was a baby. Helga’s mother remarried and had more children with a volatile white American man who despised Helga during her childhood.
Helga’s father
A poor, black American “scoundrel” who abandoned Helga and her mother when Helga was a baby. He has already died when the story begins.
Preacher
A white preacher who visits Naxos and gives a racist sermon about the superiority of white people, which repulses Helga. Larsen leverages the school preacher to criticize “uplift” institutions that merely recreate a hierarchy in which white people are perceived as superior to people of color.
Dean of Women
A racist staff member at Naxos who requires black employees to wear muted colors that wash out their skin tones, because she finds bright colors garish on dark skin.
Miss MacGooden
The dormitory matron at Naxos, who often scolds students to be more ladylike. Larsen leverages this character to show that trying to make black children more “civilized” is inherently racist.
Peter Nilssen (Uncle Peter)
Helga’s white uncle, who functions as her absent financial benefactor. When he dies, he leaves Helga an inheritance that she uses to travel to Copenhagen so she can reconnect with her Danish family.
Mrs. Nilssen
A white woman who has just married Helga’s Uncle Peter. When Helga tries to reconnect with her uncle in Chicago, Mrs. Nilssen turns Helga away, because she doesn’t want anyone to know her husband has a mixed-race family member.
Ida Ross
The clerk at the employment agency in Chicago. At first, she thinks she will not be able to find work for Helga, who is overqualified for jobs in domestic labor. A few weeks later Miss Ross sets Helga up with a short-term gig helping a woman write a speech.
Mrs. Hayes-Rore (Aunt Jeannette)
A wealthy social activist who employs Helga to help her write a speech on her way from Chicago to New York. She connects Helga with her niece, Anne, who ends up becoming Helga’s roommate in Harlem.
Mrs. Helen Tavenor
A progressive woman in Harlem, who throws a party to which people of multiple races are invited. Dr. Anderson drunkenly kisses Helga at the party, while his wife, Anne, is downstairs disapproving of the racial integration at the party.
Audrey Denney
A young woman of ambiguous ethnicity living in Harlem, who openly dates interracially, and holds parties where people of multiple races mingle. Helga’s friend Anne detests Audrey and thinks her actions are immoral.
Clementine Richards
A flirtatious young woman in Alabama who adores Reverend Mr. Pleasant Green, and is envious of Helga’s marriage to him.
Margaret Creighton
A teacher at Naxos, and Helga’s friend.
Marie
A maid who works for Fru Dahl.