Belonging

Everyone wants to feel like they belong to someone, some group, or just in plain some thing. "QuickSand" was written by Nella Larsen is a true testimony about a young mixed girl who feels as if she doesn't belong to anyone. She was born in a time when being mixed was not the ideal situation. Her father (who was black) left her mother when she was young. Therefore, she didn't know her father's relatives. Also, her mother's family did not consider her a part of their family. So when her mother died she didn't have anyone. I think Nella Larsen wrote this in constrast to the many stories that were written about people trying to pass themselves as whites to show that back then there were many mixed women out there who just wanted to fit in with either race. To show that they just wanted to belong. However, they may have been her intent in writing this particular book. But the way she wrote the character in my opinion could have and should have been totally different. Helga was too stuck up for her own good. There is no way she could have ever belonged to any group with the way she was acting throughout that book. She need to tone her attitude down a whole lot in order for her to really feel like she belong. Now a bit of advice for mixed women today is this: You do not have to belong to anyone, anything, or any group that does not accept you for who you are. Belong to yourself!!! Because before someone else can love you and make you feel like you belong you have to first love yourself!!!

~~~A Phenomenal Woman~~~