Quicksand

Helga marries the “grandiloquent Reverend Mr. Pleasant Green” (118) and relocates with him to a small town in Alabama where he is pastor. Initially, she is fascinated by this life change and her newfound religion. She accepts the poverty accompanying her status and plans to help the congregants: she will advise the women on economic modes of home decoration, on tasteful clothing choices, and help to educate the children. When she makes home visits, an important function of the minister’s wife, the people Helga encounters are open toher suggestions; yet, upon her departure, refer to her as an “uppity, meddlin’ No’the’nah” (119) and bemoan their beloved Reverend’s failure to marry a local woman, Clementine Richards. 

Prior to her conversion, Helga might have found humor in the thought of the attention granted the Reverend by these women, but she is overly occupied with her garden, chickens and pig, as well as her fascination with the marital state. For a time, Helga is enraptured with her new way of life, although she experiences a sense of “Challenge. Anticipation. And a small fear” (120) as night approaches.

Mornings bring the calm of the domestic routine and the happiness of the garden.