Character Analysis

The novel had many different characters, but it is solely based on the live of 6 characters: Richard Papen, Henry Winter, Francis Abernathy, Bunny Corcoran, and Camila and Charles Macauley. Richard is the narrator of the story, and to me has one of the most puzzling personalities in the book.



Richard Papen

Richard was born in Plano, California, which is a very small town with little to nothing. His need to feed the loneliness that lives inside of him derives from the fact that his parents don't like him and he has no siblings. His obsession with fitting in also derives from this. Richard is ashamed of where he comes from, and for this lies about his past and his family. On the very first page of the book as we are introduced to Richard he explains this:

"On leaving home I was able to fabricate a new and far more satisfying history,
full of striking, simplistic environmental influences; a colorful past, easily
accessible to strangers."

He enjoys creating an imaginary world since the one he lived in wasn't interesting enough.



Even though Richard can lie about his past so that he can fit in anywhere, he is still faced with the obstacle of not being lonely. Because of his lonely childhood, I believe he is trying to make up for the lack of love by fitting in with everyone. When he first encounters the Greek students, he is automatically infatuated with them. However, he isn't accepted into their group graciously and he still has moments where he is excluded from something.



Not unlike most people, Richard has two sides to his personality. His first side derives of a lonely, interdependent soul who craves attention. His other side is dependent and prideful, and accepts the fact that things can't always be. When Richard first arrives at Hampden, being alone is welcoming and he enjoys it. He tours the campus and it was one of the days that he's been the happiest (Tartt, 13.) Richard also has lots of pride and is ashamed to ask for things or to admit his situations to other people. When he lives in an apartment with no heat and a hole in the rough in the dead of winter, he doesn't want to tell anybody how he is living. Richard says:

"

I supposed I might've
asked Dr. Roland if I could stay in the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, but the
embarrassment of that was such that death, to me, seemed preferable" (Tartt, 120.)

Richard is a boy who is full of lies and the need for acceptance.



Henry Winter

Henry is one of the most mysterious characters. He wears glasses and has dark hair, pale skin, and a beautiful mind. Henry is the intelligent person that is also VERY laid back. He interacts with other characters but also keeps to himself. Throughout the novel, I learned parts of his personality and saw little things that showed the person within, but I still felt like I was missing something key to his person. Henry is one of those people that you have to be around to learn their persona, but even so there were still times of doubt within the characters. In one instance Richard is observing Henry and Bunny interact and remarks:

"Henry didn't say anything, and I'm sure that at that moment he would have
looked perfectly impassive to anyone who didn't' know him, but I could tell he was quite
agitated."

(Tartt, 130)

Henry comes off as very rude and cocky when he first meets a person. When Richard first met Henry, Henry did not acknowledge that he existed until Francis finally said something.



However rude Henry seems, he is also very truthful and loyal to his friends. Once Richard and Henry got closer, Henry revealed the truth about Bunny and his conniving ways , which was very nice of him to do. He also reveals to Richard that they murdered a person, which is something VERY serious. Henry is loyal because even when Bunny treats him horribly, he still is nice to him and still pays for lots of things. Also, in the end he kills himself so as to protect Charles from the downfall. (However, I also think that was selfish because he just wanted out of life and that was a perfect opportunity.)



Francis Abernathy

Francis is a Greek scholar who is very thin and has bright red hair. He has classy taste, because he is always dressed in fancy shirts or nice suits even when there is no occasion. It is later learned towards the middle of the book that he is gay, and he actually makes a move on Richard. Francis' grandfather does not accept his homosexuality, and makes him marry a woman. He is very respectable, yet also week. After Bunny's death, he begins having panic attacks and he becomes frail. After Henry's death, he is too depressed and overbore by it all and attempts to take his life by cutting his wrist. However, this attempt fails.



Bunny Corcoran

Bunny is very interesting. He's very cheery and easy going, and always cracking jokes. He is also similar to Richard in a way, because they both have the tendency to lie about things. Bunny also lied about the riches his family had, or once had, and often makes other people take care of him. Even though Bunny seems nice and hearty, there is an evil inside of him. He is VERY anti-homosexuality (situation with waiter, page 51). He is also conniving. After finding out that his friends killed a man, he holds them all under his will. He says things that he knows hits below the belt but he does it because he knows they won't do anything about it. When Bunny is around people are tense, but when he is gone they aren't. ("Everyone seemed unusually calm and at ease and I thought I knew why. It was because Bunny wasn't with us.")



Camilla and Charles Macaulay

Camilla and Charles are twins, and they both tend to have the same characteristics. Tartt doesn't really go into their personalities as much, however. The pair have dark blond hair and looked and wore pale items. Their parents died when they were younger, so they were raised by a variety of family members. Camilla has confidence, but that is sometimes confused with her selfishness. She is the only girl in the bunch, and all of the men seem to gravitate to her at times. Charles is very spontaneous and out-there. He doesn't really care what people say, and he does the wildest things (Alcoholic, Stoner, Brings gun to kill Henry.)

"And then there were a pair, boy and girl. I saw them together a great
deal, and at first I thought they were boyfriend and girlfriend, until one
day I saw them up close and realized they had to be siblings. Later I learned
they were twins. They looked very much alike, with heavy dark-blond hair and epicene faces as
clear, as cheerful and grave, as a couple of Flemish angels. And perhaps most
unusual in the context of Hampden--where pseudo-intellects and teenage
decadents abounded, and where black clothing was de regueur-- they liked to wear pale clothes,
particularly white. In this swarm of cigarettes and dark sophistication they
appeared here and there like figures from an allegory, or long-dead celebrants
from some forgotten garden party."