Greek Tragedy

When I was reading this book I instantly knew that it had Greek written all over it. Of course, the students are taking Greek and always have references and sayings in that language. However, towards the end of the book I realized that it had the elements of a Greek tragedy. There are so many conflicts that occur throughout the novel, and I assumed Tartt wanted it that way because they mirror each other very closely.

Greek tragedies often have parts to them, like normal plays, and begin and end with a Prologue and Epilogue. The Secret History does this perfectly because the prologue already tells us what's going to happen (Bunny's death), and the epilogue goes into what happens after his death. The novel is also divided into two parts, much like a play has one or two acts.

Greek tragedies have little ups and downs throughout to keep them interesting but there is always one major climax that stands out. Throughout the book, there are also little ups and downs. The first quasi-conflict is Richard trying to meet the Greek students and becoming accepted into the course. He accomplishes that, but then faces another conflict of being accepted into their group of friends. That conflict took a while to be solved because we were constantly misled to believe that they were all friends, but then they would do not include Richard in certain things.

I would say that Richard falling ill is a part of the rising action. Richard is sick and living in that horrible apartment, and his situation is described for many long pages, and the book focuses simply on him in that moment. He almost nears death, which I would say is very significant. The climax, would of course be Bunny's death, which later leads us into the second act/ part of the book.

The second half of the book tones down a little bit and focuses on how the students are affected by what has happened. The little conflicts are about the fight between Charles and Henry and the emotional turmoil each character has to go through. The falling action is Henry's death, and the epilogue goes into what resulted afterwards.

As I am looking at the novel as a Greek Tragedy, I came to a conclusion that Richard is most likely the Tragic Hero. He is the narrator, and he lets us in on everything that has happened. His tragic flaw would be his need to feel wanted and also his pride. He has good intentions on being a part of this elite Greek class, but has no idea that it's not everything it seems to be. The tragic flaw hurts Richard in the end. He has too much pride, which causes him to fall ill and be affected for the rest of his life. Also, after fulfilling his need to be a part of something, he is a part of the murder which also affects him for the rest of his life.