# Dr. Helberson — In the Midst of Life character guide

> Dr. Helberson in In the Midst of Life by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Helberson

**First appearance:** 0044-a-watcher-by-the-dead

## Snapshot

A physician who wagered on a man's endurance and now drives the night streets sick with the certainty that he deserves whatever comes.

## Who they are

Helberson let a colleague's contemptuous manner goad him into a wager he already regrets, and the regret sharpens every hour he waits for it to resolve. He is the moral center of the group precisely because he alone feels the weight of what they have done, confessing to Harper that if anything happens they are ruined, as he fears they deserve to be. When the crisis breaks, he does not flee with the others; he identifies himself as a physician and walks toward the need.

## In the story

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/chapters/ii)

Hosts the late-night conversation and accepts the challenge to test Jarette's fearlessness.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/chapters/iv)

Drives with Harper, expresses regret over the wager, and later encounters the aftermath and Mancher's revelation.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/characters/dr_helberson
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/characters