#tsh analysis

[catbayunthestoryteller]

One more thing that doesn't make sense in TSH: Henry's treatment.

In this case, medical. Henry had chronic migraines, strong enough to physically effect him to the point where he was bedridden, we know this. But he took the wrong medicine for it?...

Thank you to @thenightwifeoftheladybird for bringing this to my attention and providing the quote from the book:

Henry: “I wasn't sure what an Italian doctor would do if I showed up gasping at his office, an American tourist, asking for an injection of phenobarbital.”

"Among other things, he was taking phenobarbital. A strong barbiturate. That could make him sleep for twelve hours straight. He was bedridden. Bunny didn't even bother to give him water, WATER, in Rome. Henry woke up DEHYDRATED. Henry could have died and Bunny, busy stealing everything he could from his credit cards, wouldn't have even noticed."

Yeah, I've read something similar in Daisy Jones & The Six. That's what makes Daisy realise how incapable and stupid and nonchalant her husband is and cuts him off. If you leave a person to die, don't be surprised if they leave you to die too or something.

But the question here is, why was Henry taking phenobarbital. I asked a doctor. I was told it's highly addictive and they've never prescribed it in their whole career, not even in the 80's. But Americans might've been more liberal with prescribing such things. It's highly addictive so it was never recommended. Even for epilepsy, which is what it's primarily for, not migraines. Idk why Henry would take it for migraines. It'd be more understandable for psychosis.

So now I want to know, why was Henry taking the wrong medicine. Why was he advised to take highly addictive drugs by a doctor. It's not like he could buy it on his own. He's lucky he didn't become an addict at a young age?

Henry: “I realized I would have to cable my doctor in the States. The drugs they give me are too powerful to dispense in prescription form; generally I go to the emergency room for a shot. I wasn't sure what an Italian doctor would do if I showed up gasping at his office, an American tourist, asking for an injection of phenobarbital.”

Migraines so bad he has to go to the emergency room for a shot! That thing couldn't even be prescribed! Damn right a random Italian doctor wouldn't give him that for a migraine! Henry's disability is so overlooked in this fandom.

What is going on in this book? Did Donna exaggerate on purpose and name-dropped a big drug? Did she research poorly? Did her friends who were already doing drugs at that age also take phenobarbital for something and it wasn't considered a big deal then? But clearly it was, given it was too powerful to be prescribed. Still, why that drug? Did Henry also have seizures? Something else we don't know? Imagine if Henry did have something more but was ashamed to admit it to Richard.

[b3au-regards]

The Greek Class’s heights:

based on yearly national average

In order to make an educated guess on what year the Greek Class would’ve been born, I assumed the story takes place in 1985 because of its references to Bret Easton Ellis’s The Rules of Attraction.

Richard and the twins being 20 during the later half of the book would make them born around 1965, and Francis, who’s 21, would be born around 1964.

The average height of a United States born man in 1964 and 1965 was approximately 5’9”. The Average height of a woman born in 1965 was approximately 5’3”.

The only character whose height we’re explicitly given is Bunny’s, who is 6’3”. Henry is described as being slightly taller, but not by much.

At one point in the book we’re told that Francis gives some of his clothes to Richard and Charles, and during this passage it’s mentioned that Francis is taller than Charles. This would mean that these three more than likely aren’t that far apart in height.

I would place Francis and the twins above the national average because they grew up well off. It’d also make sense for Charles to be shorter than Francis because the twins weren’t as exorbitantly rich as he is.

At the beginning of the book Richard mentions that he was tall for his age during childhood. This leads me to believe he hit puberty earlier than his peers. This is fairly common for kids who grew up poor or in harsher conditions and usually causes stunted growth. I’d put Richard slightly below the national average.

Taking this into consideration my guess is they’d be around:

Camilla - 5’4

Richard - 5’8

Charles - 5’10

Francis - 5’11

Henry - 6’4

Note: This isn’t meant to be taken as explicit canon. It’s just an analysis post I made for fun.

[jorblesandco]

Some TSH analysis, uncategorized

julian calling the greek class (minus bunny and richard) "magpies" is so fun to me bc . while they are symbolic of intelligence and resourcefulness they are also symbolic of deceit and opportunism

richard didnt eat his lamb chops at his first dinner with the twins and bunny ate richards chop instead . lamb could be a religious ref to following, how richard is not quite yet in the thick of it with the group, not yet a follower of henry/andor julian . but later in the book he does eat lamb in camillas room at the hotel if i remember correctly , perhaps he is consuming his own innocence, his own morality . finally accepting his role as a follower maybe . also something to do with morality

Henry as death, as Satan/the devil (Richard has described him as Satan, some girl at a party said the greek class were all devil worshippers and Who do they worship except Henry)

Rot and death, particularly rotting fruit -- something about opulence and overindulgence: richard says in his notebook from when he was 18: “There is to me about this place a smell of rot, the smell of rot that ripe fruit makes. Nowhere, ever, have the hideous mechanics of birth and copulation and death-those monstrous upheavals of life that the Greeks call miasma, defilement-been so brutal or been painted up to look so pretty; have so many people put so much faith in lies and mutability and death death death” and then the first few days at hampden (literally 2 pages later) “stunned and drunk with beauty ... Trees creaking with apples fallen apples red on the grass beneath, the heavy sweet smell of apples rotting on the ground”

Richard first name John:  john the apostle . outlived all the other apostles .beloved . follower . etc . interesting the things that could be associated with that; john also means “graced by god”so that could also be looked into; could be that richard abandoning his given name that he has abandoned any grace that could have been given him . could be that he is the apostle to Henry in a way that the others weren't .... could be he has fallen from grace; extremely interesting to me that richard as a name has zero biblical references and means "brave ruler" . something something about the front richard was putting on . the grandiose he wanted so badly to imitate but in the end couldnt and he will always remain but a humble john follower and apostle . perhaps

[alixanderkrex]

Bunny's diet was deeper than you think

"Milk in every cooked dish... the mark of Homeric civilization" (pg. 208) - Why Homer matters by Nicolson, Adam

I read this and instantly thought of how most of his food consists of a lot of milk. Henry was mad about him eating his entire carton of ice cream. When he found out he wasn't fasting for the Dionysian rites, he caught him having a milkshake with a grilled cheese (if I recall, I will search to make sure tomorrow), it was actually a scholarly nod to showing the story's inspiration and connection to the Homeric world.

My obsession with her work and reading a lot and having some weird ability to recall slight details and aspects of a character, scene, or arc of a story has proven helpful in noticing how she tends to artfully tie in a lot of references without being obvious. Once you have read enough you can see more and more, she puts a lot in plain sight for us.

I've noticed this with The Goldfinch after reading some Dostoyevsky as well as Hermen Hesse, in particular Narcissus and Goldmund and The Brothers Karamazov. Though I also see a good deal of Richard in the Underground man.

[expelliarmus-percabeth]

I laughed my ass off when richard said he was gatsby like bro you are nick carraway

but it's honestly so like him to prefer to think of himself as the rich, centre-of-attention, overromanticised focus of the story instead of the bystanding observator/narrator that he actually shares a lot more similarities with

[girlintodust]

The secret history by Donna Tartt

TSH Spoilers

This scene is my roman empire. I've thought about this a lot, what did Henry said to Camilla. For me, the very nature of their relationship was revealed in this moment. Henry Winter -the guy who lived for the control, who relished on being the center of everything- having the power to determine the whole outcome of their situation in his hands, surrounded by the terrified looks of everyone, decides to say one last thing, and he does so only to her. It could've just been a goodbye, it would've been a way to show her he genuinely cared for her and knew that his actions would actually affect her (Camilla was never seen as a person by the rest of the guys from the Greek class, rather an object, a fantasy), yet it feels so intimate and urgent it's uncharacteristic of him. I think there was something he wanted to say before he died, but it was something he would've never said out loud for just anybody to hear. He trusted Camilla to be the one to say it to. And he confirms this by telling her he loves her seconds later. I imagine him whispering "To live. To live forever."

I'm physically unwell.

[welivetodream]

Henry Winter will ask you for calculations about poison mushrooms and then try to frame you for killing HIS best friend

Richard missed a bullet, literally, when Henry killed himself. Or he was gonna get framed and into the prison because of Henry.

That's why he always made Richard do his errands at first, he was trying to collect fake evidence.

[mvlewife]

imo the best thing about Henry as a character is how the way he's written makes you the part of the group; he makes you listen, he makes you Richard, he makes you blindly admire him and not everyone snaps out of it do we. you WILL ignore him being much much worse than bunny because he can speak fluently in greek and writes his diary in latin, you will idolize him for being a genius while completely forgetting how he actually doesn't care about that brain of his, he would absolutely give it up for the sake of the obsessive idea of living without thinking. you won't even think about him making his friends follow him in such thing as Bacchanal which included drugs and all sorts of crazy things. you won't think about it because you will be as obsessed with Henry as Richard and as Henry is with some ideas that do not even make sense for a modern person. but you will believe him. you will follow him. you will listen to him. you will be in that damn greek class.