Seth Shoneman

To lose complete control of oneself for an instant, to forget the mortality of the human condition and let animalistic impulse take over, then to return to composure with intense relief: this is what, in part, Donna Tartt’s The Secret History explores. This exploration begins with the novel’s professor, Julian, lecturing his pupils about the benefits of such a temporary loss of control referred to as Dionysiac ritual, or a bacchanal. The above excerpt, taken from the end of his lecture, is an expression of Julian’s agreement with Dionysiac practice, and his deliberate attempt to convince his students of its merit. He not only finds the subject intellectually stimulating, but valuable in practice, and his discussion of it directly leads to his students’ later attempt at replication. 

“Dionysus was the Greek god of fertility. Later, he came to be known chiefly as the god of wine and pleasure. The Romans called him Bacchus. … 

Excessive drinking and debauchery generally accompanied the cult of 

Dionysus, giving rise to the word ‘bacchanalia’ for a party featuring drunken revelry”(Rijks Museum). 

Fig. 1. Bust of Dionysus. 1770. Greek Art Shop. https://tinyurl.com/2zh528rd.

Julian thinks of Dionysiac ritual as a unique, immensely beautiful experience. He believes it to provide a religious euphoria, one that comes from allowing God to “consume,” “devour,” and “unstring” the practitioner. With this brutal image, he claims the ritual to be a way of “rip[ing] away the veil” to experience a feeling of “terrible beauty.” Julian has earlier claimed that “beauty is terror,” and so, by his own logic, the “terrible seduction” of the ritual is a beautiful draw (Tartt 39). The “terrible beauty” to be found is one above all others, and is thus, for Julian, a convincing argument to practice Dionysiac ritual. 

Julian’s motivation in lecturing about the bacchanal, and expressing his personal thoughts thereof, is to convince his students to agree. The group he teaches is chosen for having what he sees as “classical” as opposed to “modern” minds, a distinction made by the narrator in their earlier conversation (Tartt 29). He believes them and himself to be especially intelligent and composed, and for the loss of that composure to be particularly “hard for [them]” to imagine. He believes, for the “classical” rather than the “modern,” that the ritual has incredible positive effects. Thus, his strategy of persuasion is to appeal to their sense of personal strength “in [their] souls” and communicate the idea that such a ritual can only be performed by those who are worthy. This entices his students to consider the ritual as a method of proving themselves worthy, a desire which is strengthened by a presentation of the rewarding aspects within, namely the ability to experience “that fire of pure being” and be “reborn.” Julian believes his students are the most susceptible audience to agreeing with him and yearns to convince them of his views on Dionysiac ritual because he believes that they will benefit from it profusely. 

This fresco from Pompeii, Italy is a depiction of a young girl practicing a bacchanal as a rite of passage into Womanhood (Odorisio).

Julian’s persuasion is ultimately successful in making a deep and lasting connection with his students. After listening to his ideas, they are in complete awe, “leaning forward, motionless.” They take his message to heart and even, drawn by the “very great” appeal to “stop being [themselves],” “decide to try to have a bacchanal” (Tartt 163-4). The ancient ritual is brought into the present and attempted as a direct result of his teachings. 

The proper inspection of Julian’s lesson on terrible beauty and the bacchanal is integral to understanding his students’ later motivation to attempt it. This lesson sets up a major plot point of the novel and directly leads to a turning point in the lives of Julian’s students when they do see the consequences of Dionysiac practice. By understanding their motivation, the reader is also less likely to simply dismiss the students’ actions as nonsensical. This deeper reading can elevate what I find to be the most impressive quality of Tartt’s novel: the line of logic created from innocence to guilt, and how, with a close eye, even the most heinous of acts, like murder, become understandable.

Works Cited: A, 1, 2, 3

Vallerie Tran

Can you ever outrun your past completely? Or has it already ingrained itself intrinsically into who you are? The Secret History by Donna Tartt is known as the first work of literature to explicitly embody the dark academia aesthetic: a subculture obsessed with the pursuit of higher education, the classics, and a gruesome fascination of beauty. In Chapter 1, Richard provides insightful details into the dull realities of his previous life and his disdain for his past which is starkly contrasted with the glamorized Hollywood version he skillfully fabricates for his classmates and mentor at Hampden College. The olfactory imagery, repetition, and graphic descriptions of death establish Richard Papen’s disillusionment with his childhood home and juxtapose the embellished lies he invents as his reality with the unremarkable truth. His insecurity about his humble beginnings is the driving force behind his actions at Hampden and become a way for others to manipulate him for their own means.

A notable moment in the passage is when Richard reveals his sentiments plainly about his hometown Plano, California: showing the disparity between his seemingly indifferent attitude towards his old life and the deep-seated resentment he actually feels. In the beginning, Richard invokes the word “miasma” meaning “noxious vapor” to describe the smell of rotting fruit which he attributes to his childhood hometown Plano, California (Oxford English Dictionary). The olfactory imagery of rot brings forth unpleasant thoughts of decay, but the description of  “the smell of rot that ripe fruit makes” specifically calls forth smells that are sickly sweet and nauseating (Tartt, 10). Ripe fruits are generally a symbol of vitality and health, but this grotesque description of rotting fruit signifies that Richard believes his hometown can suffocate even the most lively things. There is a part of him that believes no matter how far away he runs, the miasma of this town will continue to cling onto him. This fear led to his fantastical descriptions of his past consisting of “orange groves, failed movie stars, lamplit cocktail hours by the swimming pool, cigarettes, ennui” for his peers and mentors at Hampden College (Tartt, 28). These lies serve to not only create an illusion for his classmates but to alleviate his insecurities and feed his obsession with “a colorful past” (Tartt, 7). In order to compensate for his perceived shortcomings, he instead fabricates an imaginary world where his beginnings are interesting and mirrors aspects of his classmates’ upbringings to relate to them. 

 A reason behind his insecurities can be seen through his description of his perspective on the quality of life in Plano.  The jarring diction of “hideous mechanics of birth and copulation and death,” normally attributed to machinery, reduces his life to a cruel cycle of life and death without purpose (Tartt, 10). The stylistic choice to use “and” between life, copulation, and death slows down the phrase, mimicking his life being leached away slowly until his sense of self withers away. Part of Richard’s fascination with the Greek class was because of the exclusivity and mystery due to the small elite group of students that were handpicked by Julian himself. Richard desperately wants to be a part of this group in order to be special, which is the opposite of what he felt in Plano. It is clearly established in the first paragraph of the first chapter that Richard has “a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs” (Tartt, 7). Richard tries to escape this feeling of being ordinary by moving to Hampden, on the opposite side of the country, but his constant need to be validated by those who he deems interesting causes him to fall prey to the schemings of his classmates and his enigmatic professor in fatal ways.

Through the narrator’s detailed descriptions of his hometown, readers understand Richard’s perspective on his upbringing and how these perceived shortcomings drive him to invent false fantasies of the Golden West for his wealthy classmates. By looking at his past, Richard’s actions can be understood as a way to outrun his past and create a life that he deems “picturesque”. But what he doesn’t realize until it is much too late, is that by overcompensating for his past, he is letting his insecurities control his mentality and actions as well. His fatal flaw of romanticizing people and places allows for his classmates and professor to take advantage of him at the expense of his integrity until his moral compass no longer guides him in the right direction. By living in a false reality, Richard is unable to discern fact from fiction to the extent that he ignores the faults of people he idolizes and always puts them in the best light. Richard allows himself to be manipulated by those who do not have his best interest at heart but instead use him to achieve their own means.

Works Cited: A

Fatmah Alyammahi

Through his depiction of Francis’ country house and the landscape, Richard highlights one essential attitude in this section: his keen observational attitude. Unfortunately, Richard may overlook crucial realities due to his obsession with minute details, which finally causes him to fail to recognize that he is involved in a murder.

Richard describes the yellow leaves falling, demonstrating his focus on and attention to the little things. He begins by calling it “a gust” of yellow leaves to denote a substantial and unforeseen inflow of leaves (Tartt 108). Richard then uses the phrase “storming down” to emphasize how quickly and firmly the leaves enter the room (108). Because he uses strong illustrative language in describing the leaves, Richard demonstrates how closely he’s focused on the leaves and, in general, his surroundings. Although his goal in visiting Francis’ country home was to interact with Henry, Bunny, Camilla, Charles, and Francis and begin a friendship, Richard continued to focus on unimportant details like the falling leaves. I assume that when he says, “I took a sip of my drink,” he is irritated and wants to regain focus and collect his blurry brain (108). His desire to focus leaves me with the impression that Richard prioritizes small details over other factors to create an artistic vision of what Richard wants us to see and feel. He begins by describing the falling yellow leaves, then continues concentrating on small, subtle details like the swing and clematis vines. 

Similarly, Richard’s depiction of the swing and the clematis vines proves that he lowers his emphasis on crucial things while overlooking the more significant ones. For example, we think the swing is old and rusty because he used the word “creak” (109). Nevertheless, Richard emphasizes how much he enjoys it and is accustomed to the swing’s creaking sound, saying, “I couldn’t have loved it more, couldn’t have been more familiar with the creak of the swing” (109). Swings movement reflects how Richard moves back and forth between the more prominent details and the little details. In the case of Richard, swings are related to his loneliness and poor youth, which is the bigger picture, and when he swings too far in different directions indicates the minute details. This supports the notion that Richard is a myopic individual, having a limited perspective and a disregard for wider ramifications. Another example that confirms this argument is when he starts describing the clematis vines. The clematis vines are organized in a specific arrangement, as indicated by the word “pattern,” which adds to the trellis’ attractiveness (109). Furthermore, the way he analyzes the clematis vines as they are arranged in patterns suggests that he is more interested in the beauty of the flower rather than the trellis, which may be worn and broken. By focusing on superficial features, like the vines, rather than the trellis, Richard overlooks what’s underlying the surface. This relates to his attitude and how he treats other people, as he can’t see the forest for the trees.

After analyzing Richard’s attitude, I argue that the passage’s ending conveys that something terrible will happen sooner or later. For example, “velvety swell” conjures up images of a broad, pleasantly gentle landscape (109). “Velvety” accentuates the luxury of the magnificent setting that seems more luxurious (109). His artistic ability to precisely observe things is proven by his use of the word “velvety” (109). The phrase “velvety swell” creates the idea that Richard is living the life of his dreams in Francis’s home, surrounded by a lovely environment, and that he is at ease (109). The velvety tone will eventually go away, leaving only the grey horizon. The colors have vanished! When it is grey, it symbolizes his false sense of security and warns that his contentment will not last for long.

Even though he has an exceptionally creative and meticulous way of observing the world, Richard cannot notice his group’s actual characteristics and behaviors, which could eventually cause him to be involved in a murder. Most of us have experienced situations where we only pay attention to the minute details and ignore the broader picture. In my first semester of college, last semester, I went through a similar experience. I stopped socializing, making frequent phone calls to family and friends, and eating all contributed to my mental breakdown. Yes, I did receive excellent scores in every subject, but at the cost of my friends, family, health, and free time. Lastly, don’t let your focus on the small things destroy your soul!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FTwRjXPavUw

Works Cited: A