The Little Friend

Harriet Dufresnes is the novel’s 12-year-old protagonist and is argumentative, intelligent, and daring. Her primary mission is to find out who killed her brother, Robin, when she was a baby. Through attempting to fulfill this goal, Harriet’s character develops the novel’s main themes. The Dangers of Revisionist History lead Harriet down this path in the first place—her brother and the past in general have been glorified to such a degree that Harriet wants to move backward into a dream. False narratives that have been constructed to villainize some and romanticize others have been passed down in place of the truth, which leads Harriet to believe that the Ratliff family is responsible for Robin’s death. This mirrors how the rest of the family blames working-class white Southerners (among other groups) for their problems. Harriet is quick to assume Danny is guilty because Ida hates working-class white people like Danny’s family, too. This idea almost gets her killed, illustrating the dangers of prejudice and false narratives about the past.

Harriet also demonstrates the theme of Maturation as Loss. Through the variety of characters, the author shows that maturation and loss are both processes that last a lifetime and are never truly over.