In the novel Quicksand, one major struggle that Helga Crane has is identity crisis. The tragic ending seems to suggest that although she tries very hard, it is ultimately impossible for her to find a satisfying identity in this world. Near the end of novel, Helga Crane projects her anger into Christianity: “And this, Helga decided, was what ailed the whole Negro race in America, this fatuous belief in the white man’s God, this childlike trust in full compensation for all woes and privations in “kingdom come” (133). The irony that Helga Crane uses to mock her southern fellows, at least for me, clearly shows that her former repentance is fake and probably enticed from an emotional feeling or temporary stress outlet. It is also why she cannot understand that her godly neighbors who also suffer in this fallen world, can still trust God and have faith in lives.
Helga Crane cannot get rid of her background coming from a broken family. For example, she said to Dr. Anderson “The joke is on you. Dr. Anderson. My father was a gambler who deserted my mother, a white immigrant. It is even uncertain that they were married. As I said at first, I don’t belong here. I shall be leaving at once. This afternoon. Good-morning” (21).It is true Helga Crane is from broken family which contributes heavily to her pain.
Helga Crane has a sense of oppression of loss sometimes. For example, she is once satisfied with the social life in Denmark when she thinks that people always admire her. However, when she later realizes that she is displayed as a commodity, she is no longer able to stand them anymore.
In many chapters, Helga is confused about her sexual feeling and sometimes does not know how to handle it. For example, in Harlem, she feels “her need of something, something vaguely familiar, but which she could not put a name to and hold for definite examination, became almost intolerable” (47). Helga Crane’s sexual impulse is a natural phenomenon but her sexual idea is somehow twisted by “Victorian” attitude” and “Jezebel” stereotype.
I just attended a church seminary mainly about how to console people according to biblical principle and maybe it would be interesting to view Helga Crane’s identity crisis in a new perspective. My own experience with Christianity is important to me and has taught me that my own identity need not be based on other people’s opinion or my own past history, and it changes my priorities when it comes to having things, valuing commodities, and my views on sexuality. In other words, my experience with faith shows me that it can change a person’s world view and value system.
– Hong D.
American Lit 309 Fall 13 
Very interesting Post Hong! I was struggling with the idea that Helga’s identity crisis was insurmountable as well. Was she doomed as soon as the novel started to become unfulfilled and unhappy? I would hope not, since that means that all of our pasts control our future, and that we have little human agency. The problem still bugs me, even as I write this. But I find your view that everyone can make themselves into something uninfluenced by their past or other’s opinions, and I find it very redeeming!