# Helen Gant — Look Homeward, Angel character guide > Helen Gant in Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Queen Helen, Helen, Helen Pendergast, O Helen, Dark Helen **First appearance:** 0003-look-homeward-angel ## Snapshot A theatrical, warm-hearted daughter who becomes her dying father's fierce nurse and the family's commanding queen of crisis. ## Who they are Helen Gant is the Gant daughter who marries Hugh Barton but keeps getting pulled back into the family's fevers, spooning soup into her father's mouth and threatening to knock his head off in the same breath. She is dramatic, generous, and exhausted, caught between her own marriage and the gravitational pull of the house of death and tumult. Her fierce tenderness toward Gant and her sharp tongue with everyone else anchor the novel's emotional middle, showing what love costs when it is spent on the dying. ## Relationships ### [Eugene Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/eugene_gant) _family_ Helen is Eugene's older sister, who acts as a maternal figure and protector, offering warmth and stability amid family chaos. ### [Eliza Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/eliza_gant) _family_ Eliza and Helen have a tense mother-daughter relationship, with Helen often clashing over Eliza's controlling nature and neglect of the family. ### [Ben Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/ben_gant) _family_ Ben and Helen share a close sibling bond, with Helen often nursing and worrying over Ben's fragile health. ### [Eugene Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/eugene_gant) _family_ Helen is Eugene's older sister, who acts as a maternal figure and protector, offering warmth and stability amid family chaos. ### [Ben Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/ben_gant) _family_ Ben and Helen share a close sibling bond, with Helen often nursing and worrying over Ben's fragile health. ### [Eliza Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/eliza_gant) _family_ Eliza and Helen have a tense mother-daughter relationship, with Helen often clashing over Eliza's controlling nature and neglect of the family. ### [Eliza Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/eliza_gant) _family_ Eliza and Helen have a tense mother-daughter relationship, with Helen often clashing over Eliza's controlling nature and neglect of the family. ### [Eugene Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/eugene_gant) _family_ Helen is Eugene's older sister, who acts as a maternal figure and protector, offering warmth and stability amid family chaos. ### [Ben Gant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/ben_gant) _family_ Ben and Helen share a close sibling bond, with Helen often nursing and worrying over Ben's fragile health. ## In the story ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-ii) Third child, a girl, born three years after Daisy. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-iii) At age ten, she shows a strong will by feeding and slapping Oliver to manage his drunken behavior, demonstrating a bond with him. ### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-v) Almost fourteen, her departure for St. Louis costs Gant more than a pang or two. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-vi) Develops a strong bond with Gant, mediates his drunken generosity, and experiences acute friction with Eliza. ### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-xi) Stays with Gant after separation; exhausts herself helping Eliza at Dixieland, seeking praise; sings for boarders. ### [Chapter XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-xii) Alternates between doting on Eugene with treats and music and violently attacking him, driven by her restless energy. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-i-xiii) Devotes herself to Gant's care during his illness, strengthens her bond with him. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xviii) Helen's maternal affection for Eugene wanes as he becomes less physically appealing and more secretive; she aligns closely with Luke as a 'Gant' and criticizes the 'Pentland' side. ### [The Angel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xix) Gant questions Helen about young women, and she mockingly teases him about his flirtations. ### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xx) Mentioned as absent during this period, leaving Gant to live a splintered existence. ### [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxi) Helen furiously confronts Gant about his behavior with Annie, tries to appease Annie, and expresses anger about the scandal. ### [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxiii) Drifting through Eastern and Midwestern cities, working in a cabaret and a five-and-ten-cent store; saves uncashed checks from Gant. ### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvi) Accompanies Oliver Gant at Johns Hopkins, providing emotional support and optimism during his cancer treatment. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvii) Marries Hugh Barton; shows hysteria and bitterness over her mother's boardinghouse guests and later over her thwarted honeymoon. ### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxix) Helen is living in Sydney with Hugh Barton, subdued by her new life and missing Gant and the mountain town. ### [The Moonlit Vigil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxx) Helen shows care for Eugene and Laura, offering food and defending their father's behavior to Hugh Barton. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxi) Accompanies Gant and Ben to Baltimore; scolds Gant for his excesses but holds his hand comfortingly as they enter the hospital. ### [XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxii) Expresses hostility toward Eugene and defends Oliver Gant; her antagonism is part of the family conflict. ### [XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxiii) Described as childless, pathless, furious; she scolds Eugene but ultimately lets him go. ### [Chapter XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxiv) Mentioned in Eliza's letter as being laid up with kidney trouble. ### [Chapter XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxv) Dominates the sickroom with her vitality, but swings between hearty cheerfulness and hysterical fury, lashing out at both Gant and Eliza. ### [Chapter XXXVI: The Morning After Ben's Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxvi) Expresses relief that Ben's suffering is over and insists on a good funeral; weeps quietly with love and grief. ### [Chapter XXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxvii) Expresses resentment at having to care for their father, feeling cheated by Ben's unexpected death. ### [XXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/chapters/part-iii-xxxix) Cares for Gant, moves between houses, suffers from hysteria and brooding morbidity, no children. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters/helen_gant - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/look_homeward_angel_se/characters