Harriet the Spy

Ole Golly is a dark-haired woman in her 30s who was Harriet’s nanny for most of the child’s life. She can be stern at times but also exhibits a sense of humor. Ole Golly is an avid reader who quotes passages from the classics to illustrate lessons she is trying to teach Harriet. The nanny encourages Harriet’s curiosity because Ole Golly’s own mother is a listless, unimaginative woman who lives in a tiny house and shows no curiosity about anything.

The nanny doesn’t mock Harriet’s aspirations as a spy and uses her ambition as a springboard to communicate with her and help rein in the child’s stubborn streak. Halfway through the novel, Ole Golly accepts a marriage proposal and moves away, leaving Harriet bereft. Fortunately, she learns about Harriet’s difficulties at school and writes to offer timely advice about using writing responsibly to preserve friendships and help uplift others.

Sport is Harriet’s best friend. He is also 11 and attends the same school as she does. When he grows up, he aspires to be a ballplayer, but his life is complicated by his eccentric father. Sport’s dad is a writer with no head for business, so Sport assumes the burden of managing the household, paying the bills, and preparing the meals. If he can’t make it as an athlete, he thinks he might become a good accountant.

Sport doesn’t understand Harriet’s fascination with playing a game called Town, nor does he share her interest in spying. The comments she wrote about him in her notebook hurt him, but he is willing to forgive her after she apologizes.

Janie is another of Harriet’s classmates and is her other best friend. She aspires to be a scientist. Janie frightens Sport and Harriet with her frequent threats to blow up the world. Her bedroom contains multiple chemical experiments that might burn down her family’s home one day. Janie’s mother wants to force her to attend dancing school to turn her into a lady, but Janie resists. Like Harriet, she has other interests to pursue and pushes back against traditional feminine roles. Janie is competitive, rebellious, and wants to become a scientist at a time when teaching, nursing, and secretarial work are the primary career paths open to women.

Janie is even more violently angry at Harriet than Sport is after she reads the notebook. Initially, she rejects Harriet’s peacemaking gestures but finally relents after Harriet prints a retraction in the school newspaper. The end of the novel shows Harriet, Janie, and Sport getting past their differences and taking a walk by the river together.

Mrs. Welsch is Harriet’s attractive socialite mother. Because the Welsches are financially well-off, Mrs. Welsch can employ a cook to take care of the meals and a nanny to watch her daughter. She spends most of her afternoons playing bridge and attends parties at night with her husband. Initially, Mrs. Welsch spends little time with her daughter, trusting Ole Golly to handle the daily details of parenting. Once Ole Golly leaves, Mrs. Welsh is forced to step in and become a more active parent, dealing with phone calls from the school, teachers’ questions, and Harriet’s long silences in her room. Even though she initially seems at a loss in the maternal role, she does care about Harriet and ultimately gives her the tenderness and emotional support she needs. For example, when Harriet is at her lowest point and has a nightmare, her mother quietly holds her while she cries.