Meg’s life and voice are greatly impacted by her father, Dean Halsey, whom she refers to as “the last living Puritan.” When we first meet her, she’s engaging in sex with Dan; however, once he asks her to stay the night, she reminds Dan that she has to return home to her father, lest he react poorly. Part of this anticipated poor reaction is the threat of expulsion of Dan from Miskatonic University, which comes off as a petty control method for his daughter: in essence, she lives in fear that her expression of sexual activity will ensure that her partner is ruined academically and professionally. This leaves Meg as little more than a possession to her father, which is reinforced by both spoken word and action. It’s reinforced when Meg receives approval from her father to drink wine at a dinner that she has prepared, and even in the small ways in which she’s referred to by other characters (at one point, West refers to her simply as “Dean Halsey’s daughter”). This lack of a strong presence in action and word on Meg’s part translates into her father completely disregarding her desires, actions and pleas. While attempting to defend Dan’s actions and involvement in the reanimation experiments, she tells her father that she loves Dan, only to be fired back with, “You’re my daughter and you’ll do as you’re told!” Still attempting to control her even in death, the sound of her voice – which, of note, is crying out “daddy” as opposed to “dad” – causes her father to go into a rage that involves Dan’s attempted strangulation. Most of the time, Meg is left speechless by these outbursts. This is an extreme version of control and vocal neutering that permeates death.

As if that’s not creepy enough, it gets even worse when Meg interacts with Dr. Hill. It’s pretty clear at the beginning of the film when he toasts Meg as “the obsession of all who fall under her spell” that Hill has a disturbing preoccupation with a college student young enough to be his daughter. Actor David Gale does a great job in terms of the glares and leers he brings to the character, which makes one scene in particular ultra-creepy. In denying Meg the ability to talk to her reanimated father, he tells her, “No. I must insist you leave his treatment up to me. I want you to think of me as someone you can come to with your problems. Or if you’re ever lonely. I know you’re all by yourself now.” On paper, this could be read as someone comforting an old friend’s child; in performance, though, it’s terrifying to watch as this authority figure preys upon a vulnerable young woman. It’s also worth noting that Meg’s father, at this point, begins smacking his head against the window, as though trying to assert his claim to her. Not to be deterred, Hill continues his obsession well beyond the point of death, having Meg kidnapped and brought to him so that he can sexually assault her. His words to her are delusional and warped: “I’ve always admired your beauty, my dear. I think I’ve always loved you. You will love me. You will.” When she begs him to stop and let her go, he tells her, “That’s it, my dear, more passion!” Breaking this down, Hill equates her beauty with the notion of loving her, which doesn’t really hold up. Is she beautiful? Yes – however, love is more than beauty. If I called it love every time I found someone attractive, I’d be blissed out on brain chemicals more often than not. Actually loving someone stems from so much more than beauty, yet this is the sole aspect upon which Hill chooses to focus. Once again, we have Meg reduced by one of our main male characters: she’s a pretty face, and the obsession with possessing that beauty means that any other aspect of herp personality is null and void to the conversation.

Dan is the one character that has the potential to actually demonstrate that he appreciates her for who she is, yet that falls flat as well. Meg is not an equal partner for Dan; Meg is something for Dan to protect. At no point in this film do we get to find out what Meg is studying in college; we don’t learn her likes, or what makes Dan love her. We do, however, get the chance to witness Dan attempting to protect her on various levels. He begs her father, “Don’t take this out on Meg” when he is getting expelled from school for his participation in West’s experiments. He tries to keep her safe during the instance with the reanimated corpse that leaves her father dead. He covers her with his jacket and shirt after her assault by Hill. He attempts to revive her after her death. Meg is something to be saved, and again, she’s not a person in this respect; she’s an ideal, a representation of femininity that requires protection.It’s these aspects that combine to ensure that Meg does not survive the action of the film. Meg is the daughter of the dean, lusted after by the respected neurosurgeon, who is soon to marry the young medical student. She is not allowed to speak, and when she does, that speech is not taken seriously by her male counterparts. In this respect, Meg is completely ineffective. Her status throughout the film is one of ownership: who currently possesses her, who wants her, and who will have ownership transferred. Even her death reflects this: she is strangled, unable to scream as her fiance searches for an axe to stop the attack. Meg simply can’t survive because she lacks the fight to make an impact in life.

The final sound of the film is Meg’s scream as Dan attempts to reanimate her. It’s ironic that her death is what brings about a singular instance of her voice where no one attempts to overpower or talk down to her. It also makes the audience wonder how badly this is going to fail: Dan does not know how much reagent to give her to in order to produce a being with the ability to think in her state of reanimation, nor can her temperament be guessed. In the end, we know that this is going to be a failure, and that Meg will suffer further. It’s par for the course, because she never really had a chance to express herself in the first place.