The Secret History Character Analysis Essay Example

The Secret History written by Donna Tartt is a psychological thriller revolving around six college students who obsess over the Greek myth of Dionysus, leading them to commit a horrible crime that leaves an innocent bystander killed. As guilt overcomes one of the college students nicknamed Bunny, the rest of the five students in the group conclude that they must kill him to keep Bunny from coming forward about the murder. The narrator and the main character of the novel, Richard Papen, goes through the ups and downs of realizing what he has done, which is what the poem is created from. 

The poem that I wrote was written and excerpted from chapter six in the novel The Secret History. I pulled the words from the chapter that stood out to me and made the most sense in the context of how Richard Papen felt. He grieved and felt the overwhelming sense of pain and guilt from murdering one of his closest friends, but he also didn’t feel sorry. In a way, he almost loved the thrill of being evil. At the beginning of chapter six, he states “I have never considered myself a very good person, neither can I bring myself to believe that I am a spectacularly bad one...” and he also says “Just for the record, I do not consider myself an evil person (though I like how killer makes me sound!)” In the poem, I pulled “Never once did it occur to me that any of this was anything but a game…” from the chapter because it helps me bring more insight on how Richard still has not processed what he has done. He is still in the mindset that the murder is just a game and that everything is perfectly fine, which causes a major conflict within himself and the others. Throughout the chapter, it is obvious that the other friends in the group are also struggling to fully process it and end up “coping” with the murder by turning to alcoholism, getting high at parties, and coming up with elaborate plans on how to escape questioning if the police come forth to them. However, Richard doesn't feel sorry when it completely hits him what he has done and how he can never take it back. This shows the conflict of the novel through the narcissist and manipulative views of his eyes, as he doesn’t see himself as the problem. 

While the poem is not meant to be an extension of the novel, it is based on and inspired by the theme of the story. It follows a dark tone and focuses on the feelings that Richard came on with. The poem goes through the stages that Richard went through, such as loving the thrill of connecting with being seen as evil, wondering what he was supposed to be doing next with himself and his life, completely blacking out the ideas and thoughts related to being a killer and refusing to feel sorry for it, and then finally coming to the conclusion that he can not make up his mind. One of the lines drawn from chapter six in the poem is “How quickly he fell; how soon it was over.” I felt this needed to be added to the poem because it shows how fast things can happen, especially how fast things ended with Richard. While the theme of the novel is that peer-pressured-based friendships are incredibly toxic and can lead to impulsive actions involving crimes and danger, the poem’s theme is how it impacts the main character. 

Eventually, Richard comes to terms with what he has done along with the rest of the group. This activated things such as one of the friends committing suicide, another friend getting shot, and the teacher of the Greek mythology class isolating himself because he feels responsible for his student’s actions after he finds out what has happened and what the students did. One quote that made me shiver after reading the suicide was “I wonder if that means he didn’t want to die; and if so, why he shot himself in the first place.” Watching this unfold in the novel was a chilling experience as it brought me to realize that every little action that one person does, creates a snowball effect of consequences. In reality, while that was already a known fact, it forcefully shows how important it is to think before listening to the peer pressure of those around you.  

To conclude, the found poetry poem written and inspired by The Secret History pushed me to further comprehend the novel because I had to put myself in Richard’s shoes while writing it. Richard Papen is a beautifully written character and has a lot of potential in his life, but rather than going through an intellectual process of doing things, he threw it all away because of the peer pressure found in his friend group.