Nella Larsen’s depiction of Helga Crane in Quicksand (1928), highlights the complexities of racial indeterminacy and the quest for self-realization by persons of mixed ancestry—specifically people of both African and Caucasian descent—in America. The novel is not intended to be representative of every biracial person’s experience, but it is representative of a racial identity that is often times over looked as a unique race category. Helga, the novel’s heroine, suffers from depression, isolation, and disillusionment throughout the course of her life.
