Coffee By Candlelight

One Note Away from a Symphony

by

Dragos Lup

Richard’s passage describing Charles playing the piano first stuck out to me because it feels almost alien in the context of the passage. It begins with an incredibly descriptive section of chapter two in which Richard became enamored by his environment. The passage itself struggles to maintain its ideas, and it quickly jumps between different tones of writing. This passage is written in a way that describes Richard’s separation from the group and the feelings that someone outside of dark academia may have about the subject.

The first sentence is a big part of what makes this passage so interesting: it shows us all of Richard’s feelings about Charles, but also Charles’ feelings. The phrases “played with relish” and “smiling at his work” let the reader know that Charles is enamored by his work to the point where even Richard can notice it (Tartt 79). Rather than saying he was smiling, it is said that he smiled at his work as if he could smile at a sound. In a similar sense, it is said that he played with relish rather than played well to show that the focus of this passage isn’t the music; it’s how the music makes the characters feel. Richard describes the music as a “tricky syncopation,” almost as if listening to it was confusing, but it melded together in a symphony (Tartt 79). This sentence reminds the readers how Richard feels about the group and that, despite his loneliness, he still desperately looks up to the group. So much so that Richard even describes himself listening to it as almost awkward, as if he isn’t good enough to be in the presence of such a scene. This feeling is something fans of dark academia might relate to, wanting to join in on a group but feeling separated because of class.

In the following sentences, the passage goes from describing an extremely emotional moment in an amazingly intricate way to a very plain situation. The sentences describe Camilla sitting beside Charles and smiling at Richard, followed by Richard smiling back. These two sentences are so incredibly plain compared to the intricate detail of the first sentence: it is jarring that they’re in the same passage. These sentences feel out of place in the passage, just like how the passage feels out of place in the chapter. The change in writing style reflects Richard’s state of mind. While Charles’ music needed all that detail to show its importance, this moment with Camilla was already important. This separation between the very “dark academia-esque” playing of the piano, the overall environment, and the moment with Camilla amplify these feelings of isolation. Richard is a man from a broken home with little to no money to speak of, and while he strives for the picturesque, now that he’s there, he’s almost embarrassed to be included. Dark Academia can feel like a very closed-off community that is dominated by rich people, and Richard can be related to it in this way.

The writing style returns to its original state, and Camilla’s interjection is further amplified by the final sentence. Richard describes the ceiling as giving off a “ghostly echo” (Tartt 79). You can almost see him struggle to escape his situation by focusing on other parts of the room, forgetting that he’s right in the middle. Despite his immense desire to feel included, Richard is afraid to be. He describes the situation as having “desperate hilarity” and having “the quality of a memory” (Tartt 79). These words describe Richard’s thoughts in real time. He struggles with allowing himself to live in the moment and tries to return to viewing the situation as separate from himself. Finally, he says, “memories of things I’ve never known,” which describes the difficulty he finds himself in. He views his environment as something he would love to have but fears that he is not included: almost synonymous with someone wanting to take part in dark academia.

This passage is written interestingly to describe Richard’s situation and his emotional state. It helps to give us context for future decisions Richard makes when he puts his image above his safety because he believes he’s barely a part of the group in the first place. These feelings are almost echoing modern-day fans of dark academia, who might look at the community and believe that they’re not included. Richard views his position in the group as a dream he struggles to keep living, and he’s afraid that even the smallest mistake will wake him up.

Beauty and Terror

by

Trent Harris

“It was like a painting too vivid to be real- every pebble, every blade of grass sharply defined, the sky so blue it hurt me to look at it. Camilla was limp in Henry’s arms, her head thrown back like a dead girl’s, and the curve of her throat beautiful and lifeless.”

At the end of Chapter 2, Donna Tartt makes use of powerful descriptive imagery and symbolism to depict this vivid scene of Henry carrying a bleeding Camilla out of the water, which alludes to the seemingly recurring theme of terrifying beauty which can be seen in Tartt’s descriptions of settings and atmospheres throughout the novel thus far. This scene can also serve as a gateway to the discussion that there is perhaps something more terrifying beneath the beauty of these tastefully dressed and elitist characters Richard associates himself with.

Tartt begins the paragraph with the very striking simile, “It was like a painting too vivid to be real,” which evokes powerful imagery in the readers’ mind immediately (Tartt 60). Paintings are associated with a characteristic of displaying this incomparable beauty that is exclusive through art. Describing the scene as a painting too vivid for reality, gives this quality to the scene that helps the reader put a hyper realistic, surreal image in their mind. Additionally, Tartt proceeds to quickly list all the small details that form this vivid painting with no punctuation to slow the pace of the writing, which helps to put every detail into place in the readers’ mind and allow the painted visual to come to life. The word “hurt,”, stood out because it helped portray this vivid afternoon sky which is radiating light that outlines Henry and Camilla (Tartt 60). The idea of the sky being so bright it hurts is a very niche but precise description of a midsummer sky that the majority of readers will be able to comprehend and relate to. Thus, the author uses “hurt” to take the reader back to a summer day and describes the scene with a realistic, personal, and tangible quality.

Furthermore, I thought the usage of “the curve of her throat beautiful and lifeless” was a powerful phrase to end the scene (Tartt 60). I felt the word lifeless was a smart and evocative word choice because the image the author is painting is this instantaneous moment in time where the colors are vivid, yet all are still and “lifeless,” which gives this unusually tranquil quality to the image presented. Another thing I noticed is the contrast and irony of using the words “beautiful and lifeless” as a pair. Typically, dead, or lifeless things have lost their beauty and are terrifying; however, in this scenario the authors use lifeless to complement and even emphasize the beauty of Camilla in the scene.

This contrast of beauty and terror in the scene reminds the reader of Julian lecturing earlier in the book about how “bloody, terrible things are sometimes the most beautiful” and “Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it” (Tartt 26). This lecture has a lot of foreshadowing in the book and will be a recurring theme and idea. Already within the first few chapters, the reader can pick up on symbolism revolving around this idea of terrifying beauty, and it is seen in the settings Tartt describes in great detail: from the eerily creepy, desolate, yet still beautiful, halls of the campus to the ever so terrifying and depressing snowy landscape where Richard situates himself over the winter in Chapter 3. We also see this concept directly expressed in the paragraph excerpt from the end of Chapter 2. On a deeper level, this idea can even be reflected in the characters of the book, who seem to be portrayed as objectively beautiful, well put together, elegantly dressed, and all carrying themselves with this sophisticated manner. However, we are slowly learning that there is more to them, and they are very secretive, and what we do not know terrifies us the most. Therefore, it is quite possible that these characters are hiding something terrifying beneath the surface of their beauty and looks. The excerpt at the end of Chapter 2 uses symbolism that hints towards this theme that Julian introduces the reader to.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ht49xXN68A8Raa2xUegvmplj9eKniDSy/view?usp=share_link

The Loneliness of the Picturesque

by

Sam Sukendro

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people were stuck in their homes out of fear of the virus. People began romanticizing a life that could have been, and thus, more people discovered a subculture of the internet called dark academia. Donna Tartt’s The Secret History is the cornerstone of dark academia. It tells the story of Richard Papen from Plano, California, who romanticizes a classic and elegant life and feels a lack of belonging to his home. Richard begins to experience his picture-perfect lifestyle when he visits Francis’ house in the countryside. However, throughout the first half of the novel, Richard’s idolization of his classmates’ lifestyle pushes him deeper into a state of loneliness and social isolation. Francis’ house is a pivotal developmental point for Richard as it symbolizes his journey in chasing the picturesque life that he had always dreamed of.

Richard’s role as the narrator creates an interesting perspective by which the story is told. Being an unreliable narrator, it becomes obvious to readers that his romanticized longing for a lavish lifestyle is the core reasoning behind his feelings as an outcast. When he moves to Hampden, he creates a new persona, a rich, intellectual student from California to fit in. Ironically, this new persona forces him to be exclusive to a group of elitists. When Richard visits Francis’ house in the countryside, he describes Francis’ house as an “ink black silhouette against the sky” (Tartt 81). The connotation of the preposition “against” is typically interpreted as meaning in resistance to something. Richard believes that the socially isolated lifestyle the group leads opposes the norm of a mundane society. The desperation to try to be a part of a group of elitists makes Richard fall into his own trap of social isolation. He separates himself from the rest of the school: he separates himself internally from the group by playing a persona. Richard’s idolization of the group’s image prevents him from fitting in anywhere.

Francis’ house serves a pivotal role in foreshadowing the climax of the novel. When Richard arrived at the house, his “fingers finally closed on the door handle, and only then, as [he] was climbing out of the car, the moon came out from behind a cloud, and [he] saw the house” (Tartt 81). His over-descriptive narration with the use of polysyndeton gives a sequential description. Yet the prolific amount of conjunctions slows down the rhythm of the sentence, building suspense and setting an eerie mood. This description, followed by a very short declarative sentence, “It was tremendous” (81), completely silences the flow of his narration. This abrupt silence emulates the idea of a drastic and sudden end, foreshadowing the death of Bunny. His narration shows how important Francis’ house is to him. Francis’ house symbolizes how Richard’s pursuit for a materialistic lifestyle will consume him. By forging relationships with a materialistic intent, his relationships serve as transactions; Richard gains the experience of the upper class, and the group gains a naive scapegoat that they can use to their advantage. The house grooms him into feeling a false sense of security with the group. His idolization for what the house stands for prevents him from entering the group. Interestingly, he points out the widow’s walk when describing the house. Historically, the name is said to come from the wives of mariners who would sit and wait in hopes that their spouses would return. This wish to return to a blissful time foreshadows the coming of the climax in future chapters as Richard’s exclusion becomes more apparent.

As Richard continues to spend more time with Julian’s clique, his longing to fit in with them will continue to eat away at his mentality. The more time he spends with them, the deeper he must commit to the deceiving persona that he has created. Even if Richard manages to get away with his lie, the truth of knowing he does not lead the same life they do will push him further and further into loneliness. Richard’s actions show readers how an inequitable society deceives people into believing they long for a life of luxury. A constant pursuit of the materialistic will only end in loneliness and regret.