An Analysis of "Helen on 86th Street" by J.J. Kampf

J.J. Kampf wrote an analysis on "Helen on 86th Street," by Wendi Kaufman. Read the original story here. 

Her Worst Enemy

“Helen on 86th Street” by Wendi Kaufman is a story about a young girl living with her mother in New York City. Many of Vita’s actions are fueled by her feelings of abandonment from her father, who left the family a very long time ago to embark on an “Odyssey of his own.” However, there is another person who is clearly an adversary of Vita’s. Although Helen does not do much in the story, she is constantly on Vita’s mind and is a very big annoyance to her.

From the beginning, Vita is determined to make it clear to us that “I hate Helen. That is all I can say. I hate her.” This is the first sentence of the short story, making it an even bolder statement and letting the reader know what is on Vita’s mind.

One of the interesting things about Helen is the attributes she brings out in Vita. Taking out Vita’s desire to act as Helen of Troy in the play, she seems like such a grounded child. However, the simple notion that “Mr. Dodd says, because, out of the entire sixth grade, she most embodies Helen of Troy,” gets to her in such a major way. Helen is such an important character because she helps achieve one of the themes in the story: immaturity of youth and the misconception that popularity and beauty are the keys to happiness. It is really an amazing technique that the author uses by using Helen to show the character who Vita is. In this short story, Helen is just a vehicle to teach the reader more about the main character.

In this story, Helen is the most important minor character. The feelings of dislike are mutual between her and Vita, and it seems that Helen has what Vita wants, and Vita has what Helen wants. Vita wants the lead role in the play, and Helen wants to be trapped inside of a horse with Tommy.

At the end of the day, Helen is no longer in the picture at the end. This is really amazing because we got to use Helen to understand Vita better, and we got to push her away at the end and see Vita shine. Helen is a true minor character who plays a solid and vital role in “Helen on 86th Street.”