The Secret History Donna Tartt Themes

Transformation is critical to the prolusion of various themes by depicting psychological or physical changes within a story. For example, The Secret History by Donna Tartt explores the idea of simple interest in Ancient Greek literature by six college students that slowly unravels into an obsession. Throughout the novel, the transformation is beguiling and distinguished in many ways. For instance, the novel's setting is particularly noteworthy; the metamorphosis of different seasons tantamounts to the demeanor and biases of the narrator Richard Papen. Additionally, as an unreliable narrator dictates the novel's story, the conscious evolution into isolation and a loss of reality is imminent throughout the story. Finally, the novel, The Secret

The impact of living in a little, horrid town and a deficient financial class assumes a part in Richard's isolation at the beginning. Whenever Richard refers to his past, there are tones of scorn and despondency. Nevertheless, from the beginning, he became obsessed with this idea of beauty and quickly became enamored with his friends. The Greek students represent everything he wants- friendship, money, class, and respect. Tartt provides great internal thought and narration, allowing readers to navigate these morally destructive situations. A significant element later in the novel is that Richard does not care what it takes to become one of them as he discovers more hidden secrets from the group. Tartt depicts Richard as almost desperate to fit in as he goes as far as to lie blatantly to his friends without knowing the

Henry had his back turned, pretending not to listen. Now he said quite suddenly and without turning around: "How do you know if he was in the yearbook or not?" (Tartt, 1992, p. 221).

His transition from originating from the infatuation of his primary class members and wanting to stay away from the circumstances he grew up. According to Theo Tsaousides, Ph.D. in "The Line Between Passion and Obsession, Part 1, he states that "passion has a light and dark side… Obsession is the dark side of passion" (Tsaousides 1), and Richard's passion for Greek ideals and friendships ultimately pushes the transformation.

Although obsession is a prominent and permissive idea, Tartt represents it differently for different characters. Obsession is especially apparent in each character's reason for studying Greek. For instance, Henry Winter has an obsession with Greek solely for the reason that it is Greek. Henry vicariously lives as if he were a vessel transported from ancient times. In contrast, Richard becomes obsessed solely with the aesthetic of academia.

"Do you remember last fall, in Julian's class, when we studied what Plato calls telestic madness? Bakcheia? Dionysiac