Literature Analysis - Blog Posts
An aspect I personally really like in Tartt's writing style is how she manipulates the readers. How a reader reads TSH is similar to how an audience acts in a magic show - we know it's a bluff. We know there is a trick here, an angle, some would say a lie, but we disregard it for the more comfortable "truth" - the coin had to appear behind my ear mystically... Right?
Richard demonstrated multiple times how good of a liar he is. He managed to steal money for a car he didn't own, no one (apart from arguably Henry) from the group noticed his middle class background throughout the book, and multiple times the way he tells the readers the timeline of events they don't add - up. Somehow as a fandom we accept this fact when it comes to the mountain lion for example, but rarely when it comes to Bunny.
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Richard is (obviously) still very much infatuated with the picturesque, so it is no surprise that when he 'writes' (in cannon) TSH he wants to make his beloved Greek group seem desirable.
It's not very desirable to kill an annoying classmate.
On the other hand, if he can make Bunny out to be this obnoxious, self centered, racist twat who sucks money out of his tragically beautiful friends and isn't even gifted academically... Well, that's way more understandable.
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Bunny was torn apart from the bacchanal. On the one hand his friends seem to be murderers. His best friend in the entire world cold heatedly took the life of a farmer. On the other hand they are his friends. As a result of this back and forth bunny goes insane. He is frantically talking about the murder in the news to try and get some answers from his friends who leave him in the dark constantly, he tries to distract himself with the second trip with Henry. He is on the brink of insanity until finally he cracks. And he writes Julian the letter.
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Do I believe bunny was racist, homophobic, sexist, and overall an unpleasant person? Yes. Do I believe Richard exaggerated there traits to make Bunny out a worse person and get sympathy from the readers, while disregarding Bunny's mental state? Absolutely.
Stay yourself, stay curious.
not to be a henry winter apologist but every time i reread the book i can’t help but feel like bunny deserved it
like he somehow managed to hit the trifecta of being a homophobe, a racist and an asshole
I finished the secret story I can't stop thinking about how much they manipulated richard and how I as the reader was manipulated as well
unlike richard from the beginning I was finding them all a bunch of prentensious losers I didn't fall for the aesthetic and to me judy was the only nice person. When they talk about the fight between camila and her I was 100% sure camila and the others were in the wrong.
And in the first half even when they are including richard he is still an outsider and he can kind of feel something was a bit off. So I was enjoying reading them all at francis' and I was liking the characters more but I still find them suspicious, because Richard is showing us they are hiding something. (At the time I was theorizing they were planning to sacrifice richard in some ritual and I was thinking they would eventually change their minds and they decide to kill bunny lmao)
I think there were two turning points for richard that made him decided to be so involved. And those turning points have an effect on us readers as well. The first one was when Henry saved him and taked care of him. After that it seems like Richard starts to worship him. He already admired him before, but he started putting him on a pedestal
And the second is when he is on francis's house and Henry tells him about the murder. Henry was so smart, the way he keeps saying richard figured out and he knew he would do it. And then he's complaining that bunny always ask for money and he uses the example that richard would rather die than ask for help. It's like he and Francis are showing him that bunny sucks and how they view him differently and they respect him. Both Richard and Bunny didn't have money, but Richard had values. That's what it seems like they are saying without saying. Also them saying bunny doesn't like richard? At the time I believe but I have my doubts about that. Richard and Bunny actually seemed to spend a lot of time together, he visited Richard's room a lot, they went for walks together. They both also seemed to be the only ones who weren't completely isolated from the rest.
And this happens right after they ignored him for a week and he was alone and desperate. Suddenly they're showing they like him, respect him and trust him. Then in the other day all 4 take richard for a dinner, he's now one of them and bunny isn't.
And what is great is that since we're on richard's head we get manipulated as well. You feel upset when they ignore him and you like when they show they care.
And suddenly Henry is asking hundreds of favors to Richard and Richard is doing without questioning and I'm not questioning either because it feels almost right.
And it's only when things start to go unhinged I think especially after Bunny's burial that he starts to understand things. In Bunny's house he was still doing everything for Henry, stoling pills from him. Francis and Charles weren't putting any effort to help Henry, it was Richard and Camila.
But after the burial, Henry is different, distant. We start to realize little by little he does not care. More than doesn't care, it seems like hew views richard as a possible scaping goat. And I think this is what allows Richard to start questioning his orders and being less blind about him. Then he also finds out about Henry and Camila and he feels 'betrayed'. I think he felt left out, not only by camila but also by henry. In fact, I think Henry's attention was the main thing.
We start to realize he was never part of the group, they used him. With Henry was clear, with the twina it was after that talk with Francis that things starts to get clear. I always felt the twins were the most distant. Richard was always saying he liked them the most and they were nice to him. But it always gave me the impression it was very superficial. He didn't really knew them.
I think the only real relationship he ends up having in the group is francis, because eveyone was losing their minds and being weird and they were the ones that were "left". They were also losing, but they still felt more """normal""". So I think that kinds of ends up uniting them.
Frog and Toad; Tales of a simpler life
Hello. This is my first essay post - maybe I'll make a masterlist, maybe I won't.
''Frog and Toad'', a short book series written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel in the 1970s, is a collection of tales about two friends - Frog and Toad. They both live in the forest and go on many adventures together. Every time my mind reminds me of the existence of the duo, one word comes to my mind - Home. Frog and Toad is a cozy sort of series, and every tale has a comforting feeling attached to it. In this post, I'd like to address the philosophy of Frog and Toad - Simple living.
• Most Frog and Toad stories have a similar premise - one of our two protagonists has an everyday issue he has to face and the other helps him overcome this. When we think about everyday life, we think about moving forward - getting promoted, making more money, moving away, getting fitter - always an additive, and fast. A great example for this is hustle culture - the glamorization of putting all of your self into your line of work. I personally strongly dislike hustle culture - as a communist I believe that the improvement of the self should not be calculated with money, but with health and happiness, and that instead of success being isolated to an individual, if someone succeeds it should benefit their surroundings. "Frog and Toad" doesn't fit with those sort of ideals of hustle and constant improvement. The duo's problems are, well, very simple.
• Arnold Lobel describes himself as a domestic kind of person ;
"I'm really not much of a traveler or wanderer or adventurer and I think that feeling certainly comes into my books. I notice that all of my books are rather homebound"
He is certainly right. In his writing and illustrations, Lobel creates a very welcoming (ahem cottagecore ahem ahem) atmosphere - his language is simple and inviting and his coloring style consists of warm earth tones. Even the protagonist's houses have this feeling, consisting of wooden furniture and warm, fluffy pillows. (I'd like to add Frog and Toad are both very middle class, and these stories are affected by their privilege). Although they don't own many possessions - honestly, the most common item you'll see that costs any money in the Frog and Toad series is the protagonist's bed - Frog and Toad find their place in moments and people.
• Allow me to give an example (my favourite personally). The story "A list" follows Toad - a usually anxious and worried type. He wakes up and realizes he has many things to do, and so he writes a list of the things he wants to get done that day;
- wake up
- eat breakfast
- get dressed
- go to frog's house
- take (a) walk with frog
- eat lunch
- take (a) nap
- play games with Frog
- eat supper
- go to sleep
Before the story even starts, we can see Toad doesn't really have many things to do that day, and yet he puts heavy emphasis on what he does have. That is one of the building stones of simple living - the silent agreement to enjoy every minute you get out of your life.
As the day progresses, Toad crosses out what he accomplished, until he takes a walk with Frog. As they are walking, a gust of wind blows over his list, and he is frozen in place. Frog starts running towards the list, while Toad stays back, claiming that running after his list is not on his list, and thus not something that he should engage in.
• Frog didn't manage to catch Toad's list. Toad claims "I cannot remember any of the things I wrote on my list of things to do. I will just have to sit here and do nothing." In this instance, Label criticizes the close minded way people who are only interested in 'the grind' (Jesus Christ I can't believe I just wrote that) think - they only see the things they want to achieve as goals worthy of energy, and nothing else. Toad may have wanted to play games with Frog to strengthen their bond, but the intention or the way didn't matter - it was the goal that did.
• Frog and Toad sit around all day. After a lot of nothing, Frog says "Toad, it is getting dark, we should be going to sleep now". Suddenly, frog realizes that was the last thing on his list, to sleep, and they both slip into unconsciousness. I think this ending really clears out they way Label thinks about always moving forward - sure, maybe they weren't on Toad's list, but there were many activities he and Frog could have partook in he skipped out on out of sheer stubbornness. Instead of trying to make the most out of his day, he wallowed in his own sadness over not achieving every goal he had, and let a whole afternoon slip by.
• to summarize, Frog and Toad are friends. They are friends and they enjoy each other's company. They prefer to have a cup of tea instead of building a bigger house, and they'd never call each other on the telephone, if they want to talk to each other, they simply walk over to their friend's house. I personally have started to pick up some of their habits - I now drink my morning Tea or coffe without any distractions, I spend more time outside, and I try to not get hung up on every little detail. As a perfectionist this is a... Hard task, at the least, but it's worth it. I have calmed down. I have become more at peace with less.
Thank you for reading - Stay yourself, stay curious.