Helen Timeline and Summary

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• Helen appears on the beach, where the waiter and the narrator think she is a mirage, while the tourists are stunned by her beauty.
• Helen gossips with a group of women about finding work and tells them she is pregnant.
• She walks down the beach singing a song by the Beatles, and then encounters a boy on a horse. The narrator switches the scene to burning Troy.
• The narrator encounters Helen once more when she sets up a "hairdo" stand on the beach for tourists.
• She fights with Achille in the marketplace and speeds off with Hector in the Comet.
• Plunkett catches Helen "trying on" his wife's bracelet—and lets her get away with it.
• Helen's passion for Friday night "blockos" drives Achille nuts.
• Achille and Helen have a blazing fight because Helen has been with Hector (and others?).
• She moves in with Hector.
• Helen goes to Maud to ask her for money and tells her former employer that she is pregnant.
• She grieves for Achille because the villagers are saying that he has been lost at sea.
• When Achille's boat is spotted returning to shore, Helen shows up to see it—but then immediately goes away.
• Helen attends Hector's funeral, but does not approach the grave.
• She changes after Hector's death, becoming even prouder (from grief) and more beautiful (from pregnancy).
• Helen attends Maud's funeral, and afterward, she tells Achille that she's coming back to him.
• The narrator speculates on his motives for writing about Helen. Why can't she just be a beautiful woman and not a reminder of an ancient past?
• Helen helps Achille into her yellow dress and pads his chest with rags for the Boxing Day African dance ritual.
• She ultimately gets a job as a waitress at the Halcyon, but remains as proud as ever.