Feminine/Masculine Dichotomy in Quicksand
Quicksand is perhaps most well known for its commentary on race. It is obvious that Helga Crane, as the protagonist of the story, has been deliberately designed to offer this commentary – as someone who has both black and white heritage, and someone who experiences aspects of both. However, Larson’s commentary doesn’t stop at the racial dichotomy – it uses other, carefully chosen aspects of Helga Crane. Most obviously, Larson ties the feminine/masculine dichotomy to the racial dichotomy through Helga’s parents and through the cultural setting Helga is surrounded by in various parts of the story. Using clothing as a proxy for self-expression of femininity, we see that at the beginning, Helga is clearly Separated from the Feminine. She states that the Naxos attire is ““dull attire…Drab colors, mostly navy blue, black, brown, unrelieved…,” something which is conceptually linked to her distaste, boredom, and borderline despisal of Naxos (Larson 16). In this way, Helga is for...