Quicksand, Chapters Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five Summary

Birthing her fourth child has left Helga with no energy for living or for the child. The pain of labor has affected her brain, and she floats along the edge of consciousness. Helga takes stock of all the people in her life and analyzes them deeply. When she is awake, she recoils from her husband's touch and realizes she hates him. The "vastness" of the universe has come between them. Helga has realized that through her suffering, God has not been there, and that life is only a disappointment for Negroes. Again, Helga is shocked at what she has gotten herself into and feels she has been deluded and idiotic about the truth of the white-man's God. She is not even able now to pray for Reverend Green's death, since God does not exist. Helga...