My Best Friend's Exorcism

Mr. and Mrs. Rivers are Abby’s parents, who experience financial loss due to Mr. Rivers losing his job as an air-traffic controller, among other lower-paying jobs at stores. He begins fixing lawn mowers as a business, but doesn’t make much this way. Mrs. Rivers is an in-home nurse and often works long hours or overnight shifts, so she’s not home as much as Mr. Rivers. Abby obsesses over her parents’ detachment and her own change in lifestyle. In reality, her parents care about her but struggle to pay for her private-school tuition.

The Rivers’ socioeconomic status complicates the challenges of adolescence: Abby has unique challenges compared to her friends Gretchen, Margaret, and Glee, all of whom are wealthy. The girls attend the same religious private school, but Abby alone worries about losing her scholarship. As her mother remarks, “If they make a mistake, their parents can buy their way out of it. But people like us? We take one wrong step and it haunts us forever” (133). This advice is realistic, but Abby ignores it, believing she can transcend her socioeconomic status by making her own money at the TCBY frozen yogurt shop and pretending she lives at Gretchen’s house. In the end, Abby’s family is forced to move to avoid harassment after Abby’s trial. Despite claiming her mother doesn’t understand her life, Abby realizes she, too, was an adolescent in Charleston with her own problems. She eventually ends the “war” with her mother, accepting they mean each other well. 

Gretchen Lang is Abby’s best friend of 75 years. Before her possession, Gretchen is studious and social, but once the demon Andras starts haunting her, she becomes cruel and vindictive. Once the haunting becomes a full possession, Andras hides himself with a façade of normalcy. The changes in Gretchen’s physical appearance and behavior while under demonic influence develop The Mercurial and Relational Nature of Identity. Though a literal demon, Andras can be read as a metaphor for individuality—especially considering the nature of Gretchen’s family, Reagan-era Republicans who are concerned about their image.

Gretchen also develops the complexity of friendship because, despite her possession, her and Abby’s friendship prevails. During her haunting, she reaches out to Abby for help. Even when Andras possesses Gretchen and sends her soul to another place, Abby finds Gretchen by investigating—calling her friend Andy Solomon (who calls to mind Andras) and teaming up with Christian Lemon, a novice exorcist. Andras tries to destroy the girls’ friendship, but it’s their friendship that banishes him, whereas a Christian exorcism fails. By the end of the novel, Gretchen remains by a dying Abby’s side, the pair proving lifelong friends.

Mr. and Mrs. Lang are Gretchen’s parents. They’re wealthy, politically conservative, and overly concerned with their reputation. They’re overprotective of their daughter, implementing rules to shield her from “evils.” This approach backfires, because Gretchen is exposed to evil and continues to be sheltered from outside help. The Langs illustrate how even well-meaning parents can fail to address the challenges of adolescence. Their concern about their daughter’s drug use may be warranted, but they allow it and Charleston’s rape culture to avoid discussion of her violation by Andras.

Margaret Middleton is a friend of Abby and Gretchen’s. She seems like a superficial rich girl, but she struggles with her self-image to an unhealthy degree. Her character arc as she navigates this concern develops the theme the challenges of adolescence. Her obsession with losing weight is exacerbated by Charleston’s misogynistic culture, which conflates thinness with beauty. Andras preys on this insecurity, encouraging Margaret to consume tapeworm eggs disguised as diet-supplement milkshakes. Her near death as a result of dieting illustrates the severity of adolescent challenges, which are often considered insignificant.

Glee Wannamaker is a friend of Abby and Gretchen’s. Glee is calm and quiet, providing a contrast to Margaret. However, when Andras starts tormenting those around Gretchen, Glee becomes impulsive—representing the mercurial and relational nature of identity. Andras preys on her crush on a younger teacher, Father Morgan, forging inappropriate love notes from Father Morgan. Fixating on the notes and drugged by Gretchen, she confronts a clueless Father Morgan and later attempts to jump off a bell tower. Father Morgan prevents Glee from jumping, but she’s too mortified to return to school. Like Margaret’s dieting, her crush reinforces the severity of adolescent challenges if left unaddressed.

Christian Lemon, or Brother Lemon, is the novice exorcist who helps Abby expel Andras from Gretchen. Christian’s father is allegedly an expert, with Christian having assisted his many exorcisms. The Lemon brothers are framed as ridiculous during a school assembly, but unlike others, Christian sees Andras and provides Abby with the key to a successful exorcism: faith and perseverance. He believes experience is not what guarantees success, because exorcism is ultimately a battle of wills between exorcist and demon. He gives up on Gretchen’s exorcism, as he only knows how to channel the Christian God—but this is ineffective because Abby doesn’t care about God. In the end, Christian takes the blame for Gretchen’s kidnapping and exorcism, saving Abby from a harsher sentence in court.