#secret history analysis

[amodernarrietty]

If I had to do my dream casting for the secret history by Donna Tartt, I’d cast David Bowie circa The Man Who Fell to Earth as Francis Abernathy

I mean HELLO

The little smile!?!? The cheekbones!?!? The hair!?!??? It’s perfect This is Francis Abernathy to me

[rockrosethistle]

I think one of the slept on things that makes The Secret History feel like a real world is Donna Tartt's willingness to introduce a character that is just never brought up again (or brought up once or twice again.)

Because i'm real life, not every person you meet is going to have significance in your life. Not everyone is going to change that plot. Think about the teacher that takes over when Julian leaves. Or the farmer who claims to have seen Bunny. Or Richard's one night stand. Even the man stalking Henry and Bunny in Italy doesn't show up later.

And not only does this fill the gaps in the world, it absolutely helps build suspense. You never know if a character might have significance later, because there's simply no pattern to follow. It keeps you guessing.

Did I mention I started rereading The Secret History

[henrywinterswife]

practically every character in The Secret History played a role of someone that they were not.

richard and bunny played themselves as rich, when in fact they were poor.

charles and camilla played themselves as pure, when in fact they were weaved with immorality.

francis played himself as cool, when in fact he was an anxious mess.

henry played himself as intellectual, when in fact he was blinded by his own stupidity, wealth, and ego.

julian played himself as a father figure, aiding to the care and minds of the Greek students, when in fact he was conniving and egocentric, swept away by his own gain, unlike a true father.

mrs corcoran played herself as a victim and sorrowful mother of a lost child, when in fact she only cared about her own appearance in front of the camera.

hell, even dr roland played himself as a psychologically-forward man, deep in intellect, when in fact he was nearing dementia and a complete gobble of a man.

i mean, gosh, this theme plays out so grandly. putting up a front and hiding your real self. whether for gain or by self consciousness.

[fillo-sofia]

One of my favourite things about The Secret History is how one of the most famous quotes is “beauty is terror” and the whole aesthetic of the fandom embodies that exact sentiment, most times unknowingly. The piles of teacups with old dregs around the living room, the whisky stains, the cigarette butts, the description Henry’s apartment when Richard goes to get his book or the twins’ apartment when they have their first dinner. It’s terrible, the whole thing is a mess, and we all found such beauty in it, it’s amazing.

[shakespearesdaughters]

You don’t know how much I would kill for a version of this book from Camilla’s perspective. I have so many questions. Who was she really? What role did she have to play in all the events that unfolded?

I can’t help but think it must have been more sinister than the other characters due to Richard completely omitting anything about her character and personality to such a degree. He romanticized her more then Henry and Julian to such an extent she’s an enigma.

Her story about what happened to the farmer is completely different from Henry’s. She was the only one covered in blood. The group is very protective of her as evidenced by the scene when she injured her foot. She’s the only one in the group who remained cool and unfazed after murdering Bunny. She is seemingly unaffected by the breakdown of the group. She’s aware of the nature of Francis and Charles relationship and does nothing to help him. When Charles begins to spiral further in his addiction she leaves him behind and goes to Henry for protection.

Did she murder the farmer? What did she really think about Richard? Or Henry? How much did she know? How much did she manipulate? So many possibilities.

[praisethelorde]

Quite literally the opposite of Donna Tartt's "Death is the mother of beauty[...]Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it."

[girlintodust]

The secret history by Donna Tartt

TSH Spoilers

This scene is my roman empire. I've thought about this a lot, what did Henry said to Camilla. For me, the very nature of their relationship was revealed in this moment. Henry Winter -the guy who lived for the control, who relished on being the center of everything- having the power to determine the whole outcome of their situation in his hands, surrounded by the terrified looks of everyone, decides to say one last thing, and he does so only to her. It could've just been a goodbye, it would've been a way to show her he genuinely cared for her and knew that his actions would actually affect her (Camilla was never seen as a person by the rest of the guys from the Greek class, rather an object, a fantasy), yet it feels so intimate and urgent it's uncharacteristic of him. I think there was something he wanted to say before he died, but it was something he would've never said out loud for just anybody to hear. He trusted Camilla to be the one to say it to. And he confirms this by telling her he loves her seconds later. I imagine him whispering "To live. To live forever."

I'm physically unwell.

[persephoniabypluto]

What Henry whispered to Camilla that night isn't romantic nor even psychopathic at all... But rather an apology.

I've been thinking about what Henry whispered to Camilla that fateful night lately and I think I shall leave this here at least as I am keeping my analysis private regarding the book.

Observing how the plot progressed and what Henry experienced throughout the story, an apology was uttered before he could act on the things that were so unplanned, laid before him as he did think otherwise would go smoothly.

It was neither romantic nor psychopathic to lean forward and whisper "I'm sorry." Concise, not beating around the bush. And yet unclear, anyone could have thought he would shoot Charles and the ones who own the place where Camilla temporarily resided.

Exhaustion was already evident right when Julian neglected the whole class so he would not get himself involved in such a mess. Henry may have acted like god, orchestrating everything to make it as pristine and orderly afterwards, but that doesn't make him necessarily evil but rather a broken one, not noticing that Julian had corrupted him. The man who stood as his father figure. So the moment when everything went much more chaotic, knowing the weight of what he had done, he could no longer continue his plans on Charles and instead pointed the barrel onto his temple and pulled the trigger.

And making it quick doesn't justify the thought that he did not love Camilla for taking such action in front of her. When a person is mentally down, either swallowing their emotions or spilling it all out, they could actually not try to distance themselves from their loved ones to perform their death. Anyone who have suicide tendencies always share one objective, regardless of what the people they care about would feel. And it's not their selfishness speaking but their own exhaustion.

His suicide is an apology. Not for the sake of aesthetics.

Henry did give that cold, stoic demeanor. A facade like what we all see about the subject of death: cruel and merciless. As most of us are agreeing that he killed Bunny due to the fact that he wanted to end his old friend's suffering, isn't Henry mourning secretly? The way he wiped that dirt across the white fabric of his clothing during the funeral. When he said he regained his power to control life after the accident in the Bacchanal, when he knew he could do it calmly--he knew he could make things right out of it.

This only leaves us a message that to become the vision of death, no matter what the objectives--to become death itself is to be misunderstood.

[welivetodream]

The reason Bunny gets a shit load of hate despite him being the only one who is NOT an accomplice to murder is because of one simple thing:

His personality.

That is the reason we can't feel bad for him. We as a society have considered Homophobia and sexism one of the worst things you can ever do. Which is true.

Murder is justified in certain situations, especially when it's in a fictional universe/story, not saying Bunny's death was justified, but we can excuse murder----even the law excuses murder at times. It's something grey and understandable in certain situations. We have liked; even loved characters who have killed others simply because it is in a fictional story.

The reason we draw the line at Bunny's behaviour is because, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism/Misogyny as well other forms of discrimination are NEVER excusable. When someone says a slur, you can't excuse that by comparing them in terms of morality with other characters. In modern society, we don't accept slurs and derogatory remarks.

Maybe in the 90's and 2000's when the book was new and fresh, people might not have cared about Bunny's behaviour much, maybe they even sympathize with him and loved him, because it was a DIFFERENT TIME back then. We cannot tolerate things like that anymore and it makes people harder to sympathize with Bunny.

Other than all that, Bunny is annoying a lot of the time. He is not the loveable goof he thinks he is. He scams his friends. He is cocky and arrogant. He is dumb and condescending. He says the worst things at wrong times. He puts people down. He pokes fun at others weaknesses. And the more you see of him the worse he gets. Even to the point you wish he dies.......

And he does. It's in his death that Bunny is more humanized, as most people are, in death.

And it is SOOO frustrating because he is the sanest person in the entire class. The most normal and least indoctrinated in those beliefs.

Bunny Corcoran is a character I wanted to like. But he kept getting on my nerves and I found others more interesting than him. And after reading the book several times I can appreciate him more. Although I don't agree with so many theories about him being a "good" person.

Bunny doesn't need to be good. He doesn't need anyone defending him. He doesn't need excuses for his personality. He is annoying, sometimes endearing; he makes your blood boil and he's still gone too soon. His death is a tragedy. He wanted to live. Forever.

Bunny is Bunny

You love, you hate him, or you don't care about him

His existence is necessary for the story and it's time we don't fight about if he was an angel or the devil

He was a person. A deeply flawed, complex person. And we should appreciate him just for that.

~🕯️🕊️🐇

[bandaiddd]

With The Secret History, I think the first time you read it, you shouldn’t analysis it at all. You need to truly be blinded by the beauty and characters before you start to read into it and understand the criticism.

That being said, I think people who completely ignore the messages being sent by that book are missing out entirely as the blindness you first feel only becomes significant once you realise that Tartt completely manipulated you into becoming just like Richard.

[rockrosethistle]

just thinking about the reason Donna Tartt's writing is so sickening in that scene where Camilla comes to Richard all bruised and he thinks about... yeah, that scene. You know the one.

When Camilla goes to Henry, his first thought is "The girl I like is being hurt, I have to protect her." In contrast, Richard's thought process is "The girl I like is being hurt, I guess that's on the table." He sees Charles's abuse as an okay signal, and views Camilla less as a human because of it.

Its the whiplash that gets you. When the supposed innocent bystander starts talking like that, this visceral, gut-wrenching disgust takes over as you realize that is the thought process of the man whose head you are occupying.

[henrywinterswife]

thinking about how henry is so superstitious that he put out a saucer of milk on his porch at night to ward away evil spirits. bro must’ve not realized that he is the evil spirit 😭

[therealrichardpapen]

Hot take.

In the Homeric world, as a hero (e.g. Achilles Odysseus), you gain HONOUR during life, and after you die, you gain the GLORY, which will offer you immortality through songs that start getting written in your name. Basically, you remain in the memory of everyone, and this is the way you become immortal!

Henry was so in love with Homer and the Homeric idea of GLORY, that he tried turning himself into a Homeric hero. He wanted to become immortal, and through his "action" from the end of the book (trying to not spoil it), he thought that he'd be a saviour, a hero, saving others by sacrificing himself. Therefore, becoming immortal according to the Homeric laws.

[expelliarmus-percabeth]

I laughed my ass off when richard said he was gatsby like bro you are nick carraway

but it's honestly so like him to prefer to think of himself as the rich, centre-of-attention, overromanticised focus of the story instead of the bystanding observator/narrator that he actually shares a lot more similarities with

[an-architect-of-words]

Bunny’s Moral Crisis and Julian being Anti Judeo-Christian

I was positive I got the impression, during my first read of TSH, that Bunny was truly morally bothered by the farmer-killing. Then I started wondering, post-reading, if I was being too generous, and Bunny legit was just worried for his life and was angry that the group was keeping secrets from him (that second one is what Henry told Richard).

But I got to the part in my on-and-off listening to the audiobook where Julian tells Richard he’s wondering what’s going on with Bunny. Julian says Bunny keeps approaching him and asking to talk about morality (particularly sin and forgiveness). Julian says he’s getting concerned that Bunny may convert to Marion’s religion. He asks Richard what denomination she is, and Richard says he thinks she’s Presbyterian. Julian is disappointed and says the only Christian denomination he can gracefully accept losing a student to is Roman Catholic.

Now this scene is interesting to me for a couple reasons. Firstly, it does indicate there may be more going on with Bunny internally than the Greek class gives him credit for. If Bunny is trying to approach Julian privately to talk about ethical dilemmas, this shows some level of genuineness in his questions (Julian also believes it to be earnest questioning). But secondly, Julian’s comment about only finding the Roman rite to be a worthy foe is so, so interesting to me.

The scene shows that something more is going on with Bunny, but it also reveals that Julian hates Judaism and Christianity— making exceptions for people like Dante and Giotto. The thing that’s fascinating to me about this detail is that Julian’s statements show the central theme of the whole book: that beauty is worth something if it’s backed by things of substance (Georges Laforgue says this, and the same thing is said by Theo in The Goldfinch. This is a concept important to Tartt’s writing).

Julian has a basic respect for Catholics, because Catholicism traditionally also has emphasis on art, philosophy, and classical aesthetic beauty. And, perhaps most importantly, Roman Catholics have kept Latin as the language of the Church and Vatican. The medieval Catholic Church was perhaps the biggest patron and commissioner of artists, and from the Catholic Church came Notre Dame, Aquinas, Dante, etc. Here, Julian mentions that the Catholics make “worthy foes” for the pagans, and what he means is that there’s all this aesthetic beauty and classical study within the Catholic Church. But it’s key here that Julian hates other branches of Christianity. The scene emphasizes that the only thing he enjoys about Catholics is their specifically classical history.

The thing I like about this detail is that it is a really specific bit of characterization to show that Julian does not care about morality or the search for truth that’s at the heart of all religions and mythologies. He’s different from people like Aquinas because he does not see human art and language as a means to articulate and pay homage one’s moral beliefs. He sees art/language as the highest good in and of itself. Once you remove the classics aspects of Catholicism, Julian does not care. And we see this because of his apparent disdain for Protestants and Jews. This also reminds me of Bunny saying Henry thinks Jamaicans have no culture. Obviously, they do, but it’s not the particular kind of culture and expression Julian and Henry find legitimate.

I guess I like how Donna Tartt understands her own theme and can show how it’s applicable so naturally just in the way her characters talk. We get a lot of hints about how closed-minded and shallow Julian actually is before we get to the end of the book where it’s confirmed.

[mvlewife]

imo the best thing about Henry as a character is how the way he's written makes you the part of the group; he makes you listen, he makes you Richard, he makes you blindly admire him and not everyone snaps out of it do we. you WILL ignore him being much much worse than bunny because he can speak fluently in greek and writes his diary in latin, you will idolize him for being a genius while completely forgetting how he actually doesn't care about that brain of his, he would absolutely give it up for the sake of the obsessive idea of living without thinking. you won't even think about him making his friends follow him in such thing as Bacchanal which included drugs and all sorts of crazy things. you won't think about it because you will be as obsessed with Henry as Richard and as Henry is with some ideas that do not even make sense for a modern person. but you will believe him. you will follow him. you will listen to him. you will be in that damn greek class.