“A Morbid Longing for the Picturesque”: Richard as an Unreliable Narrator in The Secret History

“A Morbid Longing for the Picturesque”: Richard as an Unreliable Narrator in The Secret History

Examining the idea of an unreliable narrator in Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, my essay illustrates that the novel would not have had the same impact as if it were written from a reliable narrator, and it argues that Richard was more complicit in Bunny’s death than he recounted. In Tartt’s novel, Richard falls into an isolated group of students who are studying the classics at their small college, when a series of unusual events pushes the group to murder Bunny. Throughout the novel, Richard is an unreliable narrator who continuously lies to other characters, as well as romanticizing things so they are seen as perfect. I begin by outlining certain moments in the novel where things are not as Richard tells them to be. I pay close attention to the specific language used in Richard’s internal thoughts, and how the language interacts with his actions and retelling of what happened. By exposing Richard’s desire to paint a picturesque scene, inconsistencies in his story begin to form, and we can understand that not everything we read is what really happens in the novel.