Though public attitudes towards miscegenation and interracial marriage have improved in the last several decades, the practice of these concepts was not tolerated in the early 20th century. In Nella Larsen’s Quicksand, this stigma explains the situation of Helga Crane, a half white, half black woman living in the American South. Struggling to find her place in society, she settled down as a teacher at Naxos, an all-black institution. However, when she realized her circumstances, she decided to leave her job and fiancé. She moved to Harlem, and then to Denmark, only to find that the people around her continue to treat her differently. In every situation, when she finally adapted to a new environment, the harsh reality devastated her and showed …show more content…
She was an activist, and with the belief that education would empower the next generation of African Americans, she taught “...at first with the keen joy and zest of those immature people who have dreamed dreams of doing good to their fellow men” (Larsen 5). As shown, the narrator’s labelling of her goal as naïve reveals that her actions were futile and hypocritical. Helga realizes this as she discovers that the institution itself was the problem: the mission of black uplift was a ploy created by the white man to reinforce ideas of black inferiority (Larsen 3). Consequently, she is angered by the inaction of Naxos’ colored students and teachers against the false mission of the school; she is also frustrated by her own contribution to the problem. Helga’s rage is rationalized by her conflicted identity, and as another literary critic puts it, "Through her love of color, Helga attempts to create a spectrum rather than an opposition, a palette that will unify her life rather than leave it divided" (Hostetler 35). She attempts to cement her identity by sympathizing with her African American side through activism, but she fails as she realizes she does not belong to either side; not white because she is empowering blacks and not black because she is supporting a system of white superiority. Thus, she remains divided, and she cannot help but feel repelled and
Through her appeal to Logos she educates her people and others of what the black libertarian army is, and why it is so important to keep fighting for equality because if they don't, her people will continue to have the mistreatment that they have always struggled
She is motivated by her lack of rights and freedoms as a black woman. She knows that this is one step closer to her end goal, the luxuries, and freedoms that only white people
As Hostetler points out Quicksand “is a meditation on color: gowns of shivering apricot; sunsets of pink and mauve light; the turquoise eyes of fellow travelers” (35). In Quicksand (1928) Larsen not only explores the modernity of New African American racial identity, but also expresses the concerns of the female “mulattos” who struggle with their “biracial” identities in s country that is sharply divided by color line. “This is the story of the struggle of an interesting cultured Negro woman against her environment,” writes Thronton (287). The novel begins with Helga’s teaching at an African American school called Naxos, but she
. . affirmation. . . a cleansing. . . its’ own kind of resistance,” and at the same time as “an unwillingness to contort itself in order to become some beacon of light for the world,” (pp. 11-19). Additionally, she linked Black love, liberation, and joy as necessarily mutually inclusive (Lewis-Giggetts, 2022).
Nella Larsen’s Passing is a novella about the past experiences of African American women ‘passing’ as whites for equal opportunities. Larsen presents the day to day issues African American women face during their ‘passing’ journey through her characters of Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry. During the reading process, we progressively realize ‘passing’ in Harlem, New York during the 1920’s becomes difficult for both of these women physically and mentally as different kinds of challenges approach ahead. Although Larsen decides the novella to be told in a third person narrative, different thoughts and messages of Irene and Clare communicate broken ideas for the reader, causing the interpretation of the novella to vary from different perspectives.
Her image of a prim and proper Southern gentlewoman clashes with the down-to-earth, easy-going lifestyle of the lower middle class. Her incongruity as a refined Southern gentlewoman in an industrial, lower-middle class New Orleans neighbourhood marks her status as an outsider and contributes to her final
1920’s society offered a prominent way for blacks that look white to exploit its barrier and pass in society. Visible within Nella Larsen’s Passing, access to the regular world exists only for those who fit the criteria of white skin and white husband. Through internal conflict and characterization, the novella reveals deception slowly devours the deceitful. In Passing, Clare and Irene both deceive people. They both engage in deceit by having the ability to pass when they are not of the proper race to do so.
The readers of this piece can sense the anger expressed her about the views of the black community and that first line shows that this piece will continue to be as hard hitting as the beginning lines. Another powerful line in the same piece would be a line that talks about being a black woman is not a misfortune on her behalf and is calling out the people who view the black community as
Slavery is over therefore how can racism still exist? This has been a question posed countlessly in discussions about race. What has proven most difficult is adequately demonstrating how racism continues to thrive and how forms of oppression have manifested. Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, argues that slavery has not vanished; it instead has taken new forms that allowed it to flourish in modern society. These forms include mass incarceration and perpetuation of racist policies and societal attitudes that are disguised as color-blindness that ultimately allow the system of oppression to continue.
For example, when Denise as a teenager comes out to her friend, she states that “some black people think being gay’s a choice. And when they find out that their kid is gay, they try to figure out what they did wrong”. Catherine internalizes the pressure as a black, lower class, single mother to consent to hegemony, and through this, she outwardly disapproves of her daughter being gay because it makes her feel as though she failed to raise her daughter properly. Similarly, Catherine internalizes racial stereotypes and projects them onto Denise through her stating that she should have played basketball. Her statement, “a basketball scholarship would’ve come in real handy right now.
Black women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.
And so I smiled, but he poked out His tongue, and called me, 'Nigger’” (Cullen 5-8). Discrimination between two young boys of different races is shown in this quote. After arriving in Baltimore, the speaker saw a boy around his age and was excited to try and make a new friend.
Celie Finds a Voice A fiction novel that is often harshly criticized for its obscene, yet realistic view of a poor, illiterate, African American woman and her escape from the grasps of her abusive husband would be Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. This novel creates a global message that is portrayed by a multitude of literary devices and may be thoroughly analyzed by high school students to gain various aspects of societal injustice over race, power, and gender. The book is written solely in letters, whether to God, or from one sister to the other.
Identity is perceived differently in “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes, “Won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton, and “Identity”by Noboa Polanco; yet all different interpretations of the announced word agree that one’s identity defines an individual. Throughout these poems, different aspects of identity are explored with the use ofvarious literary devices to further reveal its true definition according to the author. While in one poem, race does not contribute to one’s identity, in another, it is argued that your race defines you as an individual, whereas the third poem argues that individuality and uniqueness is best. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, identity is “distinguishing character or personality of an individual”,
In addition to that, the black community isolated Sethe because she did something that the community considered wrong. Black feminism will be the approach utilized here to see the oppression of woman of color because it includes sexism, classism and racism. Since the female characters are very dominant in the novel, a black feminist approach should be very effective and it enables one to see how the female characters deal with the past and live with it in the present, what motherhood mean to the female characters, and how much the past influences the female characters who lives in the present. The end of the novel reveals the forgiveness and the acceptance not only of the black community toward Sethe’s choice (killing her daughter) but also of the white people (the Bodwins) who accepted Denver to work for them. This reconciliation shows that the courage and the will to get rid off from the past to live side by side peacefully and to move toward the future together.