Harriet Dufresnes

HARRIET CLEVE DUFRESNES

Harriet Cleve Dufresne is a 12-year-old girl who lives with her sister Allison and mother Charlotte in a small town in Mississippi in the 1970s. The girls' brother Robin was murdered ten years ago, but the killer was never caught. Robin was found hanging from a tree in the family's backyard. Charlotte has never been the same since, leaving the girls' grandmother Edie and three eccentric aunts Libby, Tatty and Adelaide to do most of the parenting work. The girls' father left the family to live with his mistress in Nashville. Then the main character, quite smart and mature for her age, decides to find out who killed her brother Robin, who was killed when Harriet was still a child.

The heroine is very different from the rest of the family both in her appearance and character. She has black hair cut into a bob. Because of his sullenness, she is considered harsh and unattractive. completely different from her sister.

Characterization of the hero:

Harriet Cleve Dufresnes is the main character, a twelve-year-old girl who does not have the cuteness and attractiveness of her older sister, but has a stern appearance and character. She is a dreamer and a rebel, causing adults a lot of trouble with her restlessness, curiosity and spontaneity. She is straightforward and atypical. She reads adventure novels; the greatest influence on her worldview is the work of Stevenson. She is fired up with the idea of finding her brother's killer and punishing him, this distinguishes her from her sister and from her mother, she wants to do something to end the agony of her family.

Realism of the hero & conformity of the hero to the spirit of the time:

The novel is set in the 1970s, when slavery no longer existed, but black women continued to work for wealthy white people as servants, nannies, and cooks. Also in the city of Alexandria there is a clear division between poor blacks and whites and rich whites, with virtually no middle class. Many characters display racism and intolerance towards blacks. Thus, a fairly realistic picture of the world of that time is shown.

But the heroine herself amazes with her courage, which comes from childish curiosity and total loneliness.

Author's attitude towards the hero:

Due to the fact that the narration is told from a third person, the narrator has a neutral attitude towards all the characters. At the same time, he moves on to each character, talking both about the events around them and about their internal state. Due to this, a true picture of what is happening is created. This is what distinguishes the writer’s two other novels from this one; there is no such thing as an unreliable narrator. But as the story progresses, we cannot help but feel the author’s sympathy for these lonely children.