Elijah Rabinovich

Winters in literature are often harsh, typically full of a nauseating abundance of snow and hardship, and Richard’s winter at Hampden in The Secret History is no exception. Donna Tartt’s The Secret History is full of incredible imagery, gothic diction, clever symbolism, rich metaphors, and Dark Academia themes. Throughout the novel there are also themes not necessarily tied to Dark Academia. One such theme is isolation, which features itself prominently throughout the work. Within chapter 3 of The Secret History, there is an intimate scene shared between Charles, Camilla, and Richard. In this scene, Richard sends off Camilla and Charles for the winter break, leaving himself completely alone at Hampden. In the scene, vivid imagery, precise diction, and clever symbolism illustrate Richard’s newfound vulnerability and crippling loneliness.

The imagery in this passage communicates that Richard is alone and separated from everyone and everything else. As Richard sent off Charles and Camilla in the frigid morning air, he “stood under the street lamp as they pulled away” silently watching on as “the cab turned a corner and disappeared” (Tartt 49). This imagery is vivid in a reader’s mind: A single street lamp in the dark hours of the early morning, illuminating a lone watcher against the abyss as he silently witnesses the last of his friends, in essence, abandon him for the winter. It allows the reader to feel Richard’s sorrow as he stands solemnly gazing into the distant darkness. Furthermore, this imagery transports the reader into Richard’s world, generating more empathy from the reader towards Richard. This climax of Richard’s status of loneliness from one more so in his mind to one akin to social isolation is crucial to the rest of the events in Chapter 3. Without the emotional connection spawned through the imagery in this passage, the reader would simply observe Richard’s dire situation, and the events of this chapter would not have such a profound effect on the reader.

In addition to this rich imagery, the precise diction within this passage truly enlightens the reader to Richard’s new vulnerability. Richard states Charles and Camilla “pulled away” as they departed for the break. Typically, when one pulls away from another individual, we interpret that to mean their relationship is slowly worsening for one factor or another. The usage of pulled away in this passage illustrates that Charles and Camilla were effectively distancing themselves from Richard, not only physically, but also on an emotional level, reinforcing that Richard is now truly alone and has no one to rely upon. Furthermore, Richard states that the cab ultimately “disappeared” (Tartt 49). Through this usage of the word disappeared, it drops a final nail in the coffin of the status of the twins, claiming that they didn’t simply leave, but disappeared from his life altogether. With the added context that Richard is all alone, the reader cannot help but watch in horror as Richard recklessly endangers his life and faces an incredibly harrowing winter.

Furthermore, the symbolism utilized in Chapter 3, as a whole, results in a clear framing of the period of time in which Richard is completely alone. The only two occurrences of a taxi/cab in Chapter 3 are, first, in this scene where Richard says goodbye to Charles and Camilla, and later, when he injures himself attempting to call for a taxi (Tartt 53). These two distinct events border a period of time in which Richard is in complete social isolation, with the latter incident being just before Richard encounters Henry, who then saves his life. It is no coincidence that a taxi is used in both of these important events in this chapter, and it is also no coincidence that Richard’s attempt to call for help, or in this case a taxi, is met solely with disaster, in the form of Richard gravely injuring himself by slipping and cutting his head. 

The theme of isolation within The Secret History is one which is very prominent, but it is the focal point of Chapter 3, as it transforms Richard from a secretive outcast, to a vulnerable friend. Through the precise diction and usage of vivid imagery, the reader sees Richard at his lowest points, becoming completely isolated from his friends and any support; we witness Richard tough a derelict winter. By the end, Richard is literally on the verge of death and casts off his walls to finally begin opening up, and, as a result, begins building much stronger friendships with the rest of the class. Had Richard not been broken down and battered by this bitter isolation, he may have never put down his walls, an event which may have dire consequences.
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Keerthi Konuganti

Tragedy is a dense cloud of smog—discoloring the pale blue sky, overpowering the scent of fresh air—enveloping one’s senses and perception entirely. In her novel, The Secret History, Donna Tartt explores tragedy, revealing its impacts on a small group of college students.  In this passage, Richard Pappen, the main character, recollects his days in the country with his classmates prior to Bunny’s death. Using juxtaposition, allusions, and repetitive imagery, Donna Tartt illustrates how Bunny’s death undercuts Richard’s romanticized perception of Hampden College, revealing how tragedy ceaselessly and inescapably impacts one’s thoughts, displacing their glamorized perceptions of the world and creating a new sense of pessimism. In significance, tragedy causes society, as a whole, to replace romanticism with gloom.

Despite claiming these days to be happy, Richard’s descriptions and memories repeatedly allude to death—showing how continuous Bunny’s death is in his thoughts. For example, Tartt writes “Bare willows clicked on the window panes like skeleton fingers” (Tarttt 93), using juxtaposition and symbolism to reference mortality. Fingers are associated with movement, utility, and control.  Thus, they imply a sense of life.  However, a skeleton represents a lack of life. Similarly, trees typically represent life. However, the use of the word “bare” undercuts this meaning—creating a sense of death and emptiness. In other words, Tartt uses juxtaposition by using descriptions that allude to death for symbols of life.  Furthermore, tapping on a window pane is seen as a greeting, a way to announce one’s presence. Thus, this description symbolizes how death is constantly announcing its presence in Richard’s memories—revealing how inescapable pessimism and gloom becomes once tragedy is introduced. Later in the passage, Tartt writes “stubborn wildflowers died” (Tartt 93). As flowers, wildflowers are associated with life and beauty. Since Richard associated the days previous with perfection, the deaths of these flowers, therefore, can foreshadow Richard later seeing the flaws in his friends and no longer seeing them as perfect.  Additionally, the wildness in wildflowers causes it to represent the chaotic, free aspects of nature, which are qualities seen in Bunny.  Thus, the use of wildflowers and death create a juxtaposition that, once again, alludes to the death of Bunny. Therefore, the repetition in his descriptions show how the impact of Bunny’s death on Richard’s psyche is pervasive—his entire view and perspective on these memories are constantly tinged with death. The fact that Richard, who seems to dedicate himself to romanticizing his college and friends, has a perspective tinged with disillusionment reveals how tragedy has long lasting and inescapable impacts.  

Furthermore, Richard’s recollections show how romanticized views on liveliness, vibrancy, and beauty are lost to death. Donna Tartt uses juxtaposition, writing, “wind became sharp and gusty” (Tartt 93). Wind is associated with freedom and liveliness. In contrast, sharp implies something tough, cutting, and unyielding.  Moreover, a gusty wind implies a wind that is strong, powerful, and forceful.  Thus, the fact that wind, something associated with freedom, became sharp and gusty creates a contrast that foreshadows how the freedom and lightness he felt in those days is gone, currently.  Additionally, in the passage, Donna Tartt writes, “gray, wrinkled surface of the lake” (Tartt 93), using color symbolism to reference mortality. Gray is a color that is associated with death, and wrinkles are associated with age.  These descriptions for a lake are unexpected since lakes are usually a pale blue, associated with thriving life, youth, and peacefulness. Thus, this description creates a contrast that emphasizes how Richard’s recollections are abnormal—his perception of these events is different than the reality- with symbols of youth being seen as symbols of age. Additionally, Richard describes Francis reading,  “Mémoires of the Duc de Saint Simon” (Tartt 93), creating an allusion to the book. This book is about Duc de Saint-Simon’s perspective and recollection of both the beauty and corruption of the Palace of Versailles.  Thus, this represents how Richard’s recollection of Hampden College, while beautiful, is corrupted by the later events. Therefore, there is a theme that romanticized beauty and liveliness are lost to death. 

All in all, The Secret History reveals how personal tragedies can overpower one’s perspective—seeping through their memories, thoughts, and worldviews.  The impact of tragedies, therefore, on society as a whole, requires significant amounts of work and support to overcome. Thus, considering the significant impact death can have on one’s perception, as with Richard, it’s important to explore how to recover from it.

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Spencer Yahn

What causes a friend group to be so destructive that it leads to the death of one of its members? In the first paragraph of chapter 1, Richard’s downfall due to the intense isolation and highbrow nature of Julian’s group is foreshadowed through the vivid imagery and description of his fatal flaw in this passage. This ultimately demonstrates to the reader how damaging an elitist society and the desperate desire to fit in can be on someone and makes us question whether or not Richard’s fate was inevitable.

The contrast between the diction in this first passage and the following ones shows how vividly Richard thinks about what he enjoys and how little interest he has in his hometown where he believes he had a dull life. Donna Tartt uses dark language to reinforce the same feelings felt by the reader during the prologue and to contrast how Richard feels about his hometown with how he feels about his new life. The usage of phrases such as, “dark crack,” “morbid,” “fatal flaw,” and “at all costs” lays the foundation for the tone of the entire book and gives an eerie feeling to the reader, which connects perfectly with the information we are given in the prologue about Bunny’s eventual death (Tartt 6). This dark and eerie feeling given by the diction and imagery in this first paragraph reinforces the feeling the reader gets when hearing about Richard’s morbid longing. Because the reader already knows about the outcome of Bunny’s death, the choice of diction in the first passage of Chapter 1 is much more impactful. This reinforces the key ideas of Dark Academia and how the main character is obsessed with these same descriptions, which will eventually lead to his downfall of committing horrible acts against his own classmate.

This particular passage of the book is different from the rest we have read so far because it has Richard specifically mentioning his obsession. It has been alluded to slightly, but now the reader knows exactly what it is, and can begin to wonder what it will result in. This causes the reader to have a new perspective on Richard right at the start of the book, and wonder if he could be a flawed narrator. Richard questions, “Does such a thing as ‘the fatal flaw,’ that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life…” which hints towards how this obsession will drastically affect other characters in the story. (Tartt 6). Because Richard specifically says, “at all costs,” we know that this will result in something terrible happening due to Richard’s fatal flaw (Tartt, 6). This demonstrates to the reader that the elite society he so desperately wants to fit in with will damage his well being and cause him to act in ways he would not have at home, thus creating a crack through the group, similar to what he describes metaphorically.

This small passage essentially provides the context for the entire book, and through looking back at this specific section, it is apparent that all things that happen to Richard and the rest of Julian’s students relates to the “fatal flaw” that Richard describes. His specific fatal flaw is the entire reason for him attending Hampden in the first place. He chose Hampden because of the view on the pamphlet he later describes. It is also the reasoning behind dropping all of his classes and joining the other students in Julian’s teachings. It could be argued that this elitist group of students gives him new meaning in his life at Hampden. However, after reading more and more of the book, it becomes apparent to the reader that it will cause nothing but harm to Richard. This leaves the reader wondering if the death of Bunny could have been stopped or if it was fate that brought Richard to Hampden and caused this tragic ending.

Ultimately, the reader can understand from this passage that elitism is damaging to a society and its members. The idea that a group is beyond the laws and morals of society leads to drastic outcomes, such as the one alluded to in the prologue, and it can be seen that these elite groups should not be romanticized so heavily.

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