The Secret History (1992)

One thing i can yap and yap on about for ages is the fact that the greek class cant for the life of them grasp the fact that bunny is upset by the murder of the farmer

When henry is telling the story of the bacchanal to richard, he says bunny couldnt understand how serious the situation was because he was freaking out which is funny, because he was the only one who understood

Henry also said that bunny wasnt upset about the murder but rather about the fact that theyd gone without him, and that he couldn't possibly care that theyd killed a man because he wasnt "exactly the most moral man" as if u needed to be fucking gandhi to realize that killing someone is wrong

When bunny started acting out they were all convinced he was doing it out of spite or to get under their skin, completely ignoring the signs that showed he was having a complete nervous breakdown and was slowly losing his mind because of what they had done

This is because they themselves did not see the act as something that was morally wrong, but rather an inconvenience for them. Like francis said, it wasnt voltaire they killed. They were so out of touch with reality that they lived not in this world but in one where morality doesnt exist, one they are the center of where the gods personally descend to be by their side. They lived in their ancient tales and greek poems. Bunny was the only one who was grounded and they cant understand that. It doesnt even begin to cross their minds. And its the same with bunnys death, they dont care about the morality of it because in their mind they are closer to gods than to humans and gods do whatever they please. They can kill a farmer and who cares? Its not like he was voltaire. They can kill their friend and who cares? Heroes kill and heroes die all the time.

this distance between them and the real world is the most important part of their characters because it explains everything else, from the incest to henrys suicide. Bunny was the only one who was rooted to reality which is what always set him apart from the rest and most importantly why things started to spiral out of control as soon as they killed him. He was their anchor to the real world and to sanity.

Give me more Butch Camilla Macaulay please god please please please please. She shares her brother's clothes! She has a "boyish" haircut! Give me Camilla in tweed shorts and a shag mullet!! It's what she would have wanted, goddamnit.

rip bunny corcoran you would’ve loved tiktok brain rot humor.

Donna Tartt, The Secret History

each paragraph in the epilogue of the secret history is like another gunshot and by the time i finish the book i’m in literal shambles

Richard being a flirty drunk. <3

To Camilla at a party:

“‘Hello,’ I said, trying to be nonchalant but delighted and beaming down at her all the same. ‘How are you? What are you doing here? Can I get you a drink?’”

To Henry, when he saw him gardening:

“I let myself in through the side gate. I was quite drunk. ‘Hello,’ I said, ‘hello, hello, hello.’”

Bonus, when he was high off Demerol, and Francis walked in:

“I was so glad to see him I felt like laughing, and I was so doped up I probably did. ‘François,’ I said idiotically.”

Also, that time he was at that party and he realizes just how much fun everyone outside the Greek class is. And he’s like a little bit in love with everybody there:

“I noted a strange beauty in the faces of people previously repulsive to me. I smiled at everyone and everyone smiled back.”

i feel like Henry Winter wouldn’t fall in love with someone who idolizes him, but quite the contrary; he’d fall for the girl who knows he’s a manipulative shit, too cocky for his own good but still likes him.

therefore, he’s into degradation. in this essay I will…

𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲'𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐲.

𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭. 𝐈 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧.

#isurvivedshifttok

Henry is not this perfectly composed psychopath that some people like to pretend he is. He loved Bunny, and he hated him, and those two things can and do coexist. Killing Bunny broke something in Henry, or maybe it unearthed something that had always been broken. But he still loved him. That was his best friend and his worst enemy and sometimes those two things aren’t so different. In this essay, I will…