Wait Till Helen Comes

“You never said anything about it. You never said we were going to have a bunch of dead people buried in our backyard.”

Molly’s overreaction to the presence of a graveyard reveals not only her fear of death but also her feeling that Mom betrayed her by keeping this information from her. Molly’s broader frustration with her mother’s remarriage exacerbates this sense of betrayal.

“If we give her enough love, she’ll change […] I know she will.”

Mom recognizes Heather’s recalcitrant attitude but hopes that time and attention will help her fit in. Mom’s reiteration that she “knows” Heather will change has an air of desperation, as if by saying it she can make it so. Mom’s faith in the power of love also reflects her belief that parents love their children unconditionally.

“Something was wrong; I could sense it if no one else could.”

Impressionable and imaginative, Molly is the only one besides Heather to sense Helen. Molly believes that she may have a “sixth sense” that allows her to see spirits. Molly’s comment is also an example of foreshadowing, a literary device that Hahn uses to build suspense.

“Don’t let that little brat scare you with make-believe, Molly.”

Michael reveals several facets of his character. His use of a contemptuous term for Heather reveals his dislike of her and his awareness of her machinations. It also shows Michael’s personal reliance on facts and the scientific method and his dismissal of what he sees as Molly’s irrational supernatural beliefs.

“She ruins everything.”

Molly grieves the loss of family togetherness she had with Mom before Heather arrived. Like Heather, Molly has difficulty sharing her parent’s love.

“Just don’t inflict your own fears on Heather, Molly.”

Dave’s warning shows his bias toward Heather and his lack of insight into Heather’s feelings. Although Dave is correct that Molly has fears, Heather is the one frightening Molly.

“My friend and your enemy.”

Heather believes in absolutes: Just as she wants all of Dave’s affection, she finds what she believes is a perfect friend in Helen, which makes Helen Molly’s enemy by default. This quote illustrates both the division in the family and the novel’s theme of friendship.

“She was one of these lonely little creatures. No friends, nobody who seemed to care much about her—you know the kind.”

Mr. Simmons’s description of the little girl who drowned in Harper Pond chills Molly because she sees that Heather is very similar: unhappy and lonely. The caretaker’s words reveal the importance of true friendship and make Molly worry for Heather’s safety.

“Heather’s just a little girl, a very sensitive little girl! Why can’t you treat her decently? What’s wrong with you two?”

Dave increasingly blames Michael and Molly for Heather’s unhappiness—real and pretend. His inability to see through Heather’s lies causes increased friction in the family, which is exactly what Heather wants.

“Day by day, our lives seemed to grow unhappier, as if she had the ability somehow to reach out from the grave and touch us all with her misery.”

Molly’s description of Helen as the source of family discord reflects her own supernatural fears and her sense of powerlessness. However, Helen does exacerbate the preexisting tensions within the family, and Molly’s description of Helen’s “misery” as contagious proves insightful; like Heather, Helen harbors a guilty secret that twists her emotions and relationships with others.

“I tried to talk to Dave about her before you all came home, but he said I wasn’t trying. He said I didn’t love her enough.”

Dave’s criticism hurts Mom’s feelings and reveals his ignorance of the true nature of Heather’s problems: her guilt, which pushes others away. No matter how much love Mom gives, it will never be “enough” until Heather is ready to accept it. This quote also illustrates a growing rift in Mom and Dave’s relationship.

“I know my own children.”

Mom supports Michael and Molly against Dave’s accusations that they are trying to sabotage the relationship. Mom’s statement, however, shows that Heather’s divisive tactics are working: Both adults come into conflict with one another, taking the sides of their own children.

“Helen’s voice was like the winter wind blowing through a field of weeds, dry and cruel.”

Molly's use of figurative language in her description of Helen reveals her love of words and her imaginative personality. It also contributes to the story’s horror by evoking images of coldness and death.

“Why don’t you open your eyes and see what she’s really like?”

Although typically nonconfrontational, Michael makes this remark to Dave, revealing his anger at Dave’s unfair censure, his preferential treatment of Heather, and the increasing division within the family.

“Dave says you have a terrible fear of death […] and it’s manifesting itself in your belief in ghosts.”

Molly is upset that Mom believes Dave’s interpretation of her behavior, but Dave is partially right. Molly is afraid of dying, but the ghost she sees is the (partial) cause of this fear rather than its result. Molly demonstrates self-reflection as she struggles to understand the nature of death and the afterlife.

“It’s like nuclear war, Molly. If I think about it, I get really scared, so I don’t let myself.”

Michael admits that death scares him but recognizes it is something he cannot control. He manages his fears by not thinking about them. Michael believes that Molly’s obsession with death is “morbid” and her belief in Helen “crazy.”

“It scared me that she could summon up something as horrible as Helen and then stand there, safe beside her father, laughing at us. It made her seem as inhuman as Helen.”

Heather’s pleasure in Molly, Michael, and Mom’s unhappiness frightens Molly and makes her feel powerless to fix the family situation. Heather’s resemblance to Helen partly stems from their shared experiences but also hints at the control Helen increasingly wields over her. 

“It was horrible to die, horrible. Just to think of myself ending, being gone from the earth forever, terrified me.”

Molly fears death because it involves the loss of self and the loss of connection to the world and others. Death is a prominent theme in the novel, and Molly gradually learns to overcome or manage her fears.

“She loves me; she loves me best of all!”

Heather shows her misunderstanding of the nature of love and friendship. She believes that Helen alone can accept her because both are guilty and undeserving of others’ love. Heather must learn that love is forgiving and infinite and that real friends do not try to control you.

“Maybe we just have to learn to be a family. All of us.”

Molly articulates the novel’s central message about family. Everyone needs to work harder and learn to interact with each other in their new familial roles. Being a united family involves open communication, support, and love.

“For the first time, she seemed like a real, true sister instead of an enemy camping in our home, making me and everyone miserable.”

With Molly’s newfound understanding of Heather and Heather’s release of the guilt she carries, both girls connect on an emotional level. They are now friends.

“Do parents love their children no matter what they do?”

Worried that she gave the wrong advice to Heather, Molly asks Mom this question. In doing so, Molly expresses both Heather’s fears that Dave will not love her if he knows the truth and Molly’s own worries. Mom affirms that parents’ love is unconditional.

“‘And the ghost—it must have been a projection of her own guilt,’ Mom said.”

Mom believes that Helen is a fiction Heather made up to externalize the guilt she felt inside. Adults in the novel uniformly dismiss the possibility of an actual ghost, but Molly and Heather know Helen is real. Adults are not always right.