How to Sell a Haunted House

Mark is Louise’s younger brother. At the beginning of the novel, Louise sees him as spoiled and lazy, as if he has never truly matured:

The Mark in front of her had a receding hairline and his gut had gotten bigger since the last time she’d seen him. He wore a King Missile t-shirt he’d had in high school, but it couldn’t be the same one even though it was dirty enough to be, and he wore a flannel she thought he’d owned then, too (35).

While Mark’s journey is about letting go of his anger toward Louise, Louise’s journey is about altering her perception of him.

This shift occurs fairly early on in the novel. His revelation about Louise trying to drown him enables Louise to understand why he developed such a hatred and distrust of her. The final complaint that Louise has always held against him is that he dropped out of Boston University after one year, costing his parents money in tuition. When he tells her the story of what really happened in Boston, she is forced to reconsider her opinion of both his intelligence and his motivations.

Mark’s life has been shaped by The Power of Secrets and the silence of his family. All his life, he waited for someone to acknowledge his near drowning, but no one ever did. Furthermore, as he tells Louise, his mother never asked what happened to him at Boston University, despite the fact that she knows about Pupkin. Mark is the one who pushes for truth and honesty in the family, overcoming Louise’s objections. He shows a depth and maturity that, in many ways, supersedes hers. By the novel’s end, it is clear that he is, and always has been, much more than Louise thought he was.

Pupkin is a puppet that has been in the Joyner family for years. He was Freddie’s favorite toy, and after Freddie’s death, Nancy kept him as her only connection to her dead brother. Pupkin is completely focused on Nancy, and anyone who usurps her attention feels the force of his jealousy. When Louise and Mark are younger, he attaches himself to both of them as well, with disastrous results. Later in the novel, Mark and Louise realize that Nancy and their father, Eric, have been having trouble with Pupkin for some time, as he was the reason behind their car accident.

In the stories that Nancy acts out for Louise and Mark when they are children, Pupkin lives in Tickytoo Woods, in the Tick Tock Tree near the Bone Orchard. Later, Mark will put this imaginary world into context in their own backyard: “The Tick Tock Tree is a cypress. The Bone Orchard is bamboo […] It’s the cypress in the backyard, […] With all the bamboo. That’s where Freddie is. I know it in my gut!” (384). Mark’s connection to Pupkin gives him and Louise the clues they need to set Freddie’s ghost to rest. Nevertheless, Pupkin has powers that go further than they could have known: He is able to call upon all of the other dolls and toys in the house to attack anyone that is a threat to his existence.

At the end of the novel, the family come to understand that Freddie’s spirit resides in Pupkin. Freddie was five years old when he died, and so Pupkin’s mentality remains at that age. He also finds the greatest connection with Louise when she is five years old and attaches himself to Poppy when she is five years old. Due to Freddie’s age, Pupkin doesn’t understand the consequences of his dangerous actions, nor does he understand the concept of death. It is only when Freddie’s trauma is resolved through resolution and burial that both Pupkin and Freddie can find peace.

Aunt Honey is Nancy’s aunt and Louise’s great-aunt. She is the matriarch of the family and the family secret-keeper. Aunt Honey is also the person Louise turns to when she finds out about her parents’ death. When she doesn’t know what to do, Aunt Honey brings her down to earth: “Sweetheart, […] pack a nice dress. And come home” (14). Aunt Honey is also able to influence Mark about their parents’ funeral, and Hendrix presents her as a classic example of the Southern matriarch, effortlessly overwhelming his objections with the force of the way things have always been done.

Aunt Honey connects to the theme of The Power of Secrets because, as it turns out, she is the only person who knows the true story about Freddie’s death. She is also the person who developed the alternate history that the family tells. Louise discovers this when she remembers her mother saying, “Your aunt Honey tells stories” (358). Like Louise, Aunt Honey is extremely resistant to revealing the family truths. In the end, however, she admits that Louise was right to seek the truth. However, she characteristically only addresses the topic superficially before quickly changing the subject.