Wait Till Helen Comes

Throughout most of the novel, Heather views Michael and Molly as the “enemy” and vice versa. Through these relationships, Hahn examines the nature of friendship: what it means to be a friend, and what true friendship entails.

Heather has no friends. She has alienated Michael completely to the point where he declares, “I’m not having anything to do with that kid” (99-100). Although Molly has tried to befriend Heather and continues to make small efforts—primarily to appease Mom—Molly confides that she does not like Heather either and certainly does not love her as a sister. Heather contributes to her own isolation, pushing others away before they can get close and reject her. With her toxic attitude, her efforts to get Michael and Molly in trouble, and her attempts to break up Dave and Mom, Heather gives Michael and Molly reason to “hate” her. This allows Heather to hate them in return when they avoid and dislike her. Heather makes Michael, Molly, and Mom her enemies, vowing revenge for perceived—and real—slights that her own unhappiness has brought about.

Nevertheless, Heather is desperate for a friend. Molly notices Heather’s similarity to Mr. Simmons’s description of the little drowned girl, who likewise had “[n]o friends, nobody who seemed to care much about her” (92). Mr. Simmons’s comment implies that the little girl who drowned was not getting emotional support from friends or family—much like Heather, who begins to doubt even Dave’s love as the story progresses. Helen offers true, pure, eternal friendship—or so Heather wants to believe. In desperation, Heather promises Helen to “do anything [she] say[s]” (48). Helen proves her friendship in Heather’s eyes by avenging Heather: destroying Michael, Molly, and Mom’s treasured possessions. For Heather, acting cruelly against her “enemies” is the same as acting kindly to her because she has a black-and-white understanding of friendship.

Helen, however, is not a true friend. Like Heather, Helen fears being “betrayed.” Like Heather, Helen cannot get all the love she desires and tries to forcibly take love and friendship from others. Helen calls Heather “mine” and controls her through both the power of the locket and the power of guilt. Helen demands complete loyalty, threatening and guilting Heather into compliance. There is an unhealthy power imbalance in their “friendship” that Helen capitalizes on.

Molly tries to tell Heather that Helen is not a good friend, but it is not until Molly risks her life to save Heather that the younger girl begins to understand what a true friend is. Molly, discovering Heather’s secret guilt and profound unhappiness, can now fully empathize with her. Molly offers sisterly love and advice, winning Heather’s trust and affection. Molly no longer sees Heather as “an enemy camping in our home, making everyone miserable” but as “a real, true sister” (177).

Dave tells Mom that Molly has “a terrible fear of death” (116), and while Dave’s attitude towards psychology is certainly suspect, he is right about Molly’s fears. She laments, “It was horrible to die, horrible. Just to think of myself ending, being gone from the earth forever, terrified me” (146). Death is a dominant theme in the novel, which examines children’s attitudes towards mortality. Ultimately, Molly’s experience with Helen, though terrifying, helps her work through her fears and achieve peace with the concept of dying.

Death anxiety—the fear of dying or the fear of the process of dying—is known as thanatophobia. Someone who has thanatophobia experiences anxiety when they encounter situations that involve death or dying, which makes them go out of their way to avoid anything to do with death. Children frequently experience thanatophobia because they do not have the same coping skills that adults have, like religious beliefs and a more mature outlook on life. According to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, many adolescents between the ages of 7 and 16 experience a fear of death, which “may actually be a healthy part of normal development” (Fritscher, Lisa. “What is Thanatophobia?” verywellmind, 13 April 2021).

The graveyard catalyzes Molly’s fears of death. On one level, the graveyard acts as an atmospheric element of the novel’s setting: a spooky place where monsters and skeletons might emerge from their graves. Molly, informed by classic horror film and literature, fears this supernatural aspect. On another level, the graveyard speaks to Molly’s personal and very real fear of dying. Considering Helen’s grave leads Molly to contemplate death and the afterlife. Her vivid imagination and empathetic nature influence her reflections: Molly wonders what is left of Helen’s body and visualizes what it would be like to be alone in a grave for 100 years. These thoughts cause existential angst, filling Molly with a “terrible feeling of sadness and despair” (60).

Death is more than isolating, however. Molly sees death as a complete loss of self: the absence of everything she loves and values. Molly dreads this; Helen’s destruction of her belongings makes her feel as if her “whole personality” were gone, and death is the ultimate destruction. As Molly realizes in horror, “All [her] memories would die with [her], all [her] thoughts and ideas” (146). When she runs from the graveyard after comparing her living body to the dead ones beneath her, Molly has a dark epiphany that no one, herself included, can escape death.

Helen’s existence complicates Molly’s thoughts about death. Molly ponders whether it might be worth being a ghost to have some part of her live on after death. Helen proves that there is something after death, which offers some initial, if chilling, comfort to Molly.

Other characters have differing attitudes towards dying. Michael also fears death and copes by refusing to think or talk about it. His denial of the possibility of ghosts is an aspect of this fear. It is one of the reasons he keeps telling adults about Molly’s belief in ghosts. Having them confirm his rational stance puts him in an intellectually superior position and assuages his own fears. Heather believes that death will be a release from her unhappiness. She longs for the fantasy world Helen describes, where there is “nothing ugly or hateful” (162).

In saving Heather from drowning and defeating Helen’s designs, Molly essentially defeats death. She overcomes her own fears and risks dying herself to protect Heather’s life. Afterwards, Molly no longer fears the graveyard and instead describes it using positive, natural imagery. Molly no longer views death and the afterlife as solitary oblivion. Having witnessed Helen reunite with her mother, Molly believes that “They’re a family now” and that wherever Helen is (176), she is happy. Molly reaches a personal peace with her feelings about death.