Curate, connect, and discover
I am gonna take a break from TSH. Although it was because of that I started this blog. I have been very burned out with that book. I cleaned out my drafts. For the past three years of hyper-fixation made me learn about so many things. I have changed my opinions so much since I made my first post and it made me realise how you not only mature in age but also in your ideas about certain topics and characters.
It won't probably be my final post about TSH, I want to return to it a few years later to see it in a retrospective lens opposed to the rose-tinted one I wore when I completed the book for the first time.
My current thoughts on the characters;
Henry: loved him at first and I love him still. But for different reasons. I loved him when I first read the book because I was too in love with his character to realise the type of person he was. Even agreeing on his terrible decisions (ex: killing Bunny, bacchanal, etc...) but now I love him because he is so unhinged and terrible like the many morally grey/evil characters we all love.
Richard: for some reason I thought he was a good person who got wrapped in all this shit and wasn't bad. Now I think Richard is equally responsible for the tragedy by not reporting a murder and by being an actual accomplice to murder.
Camilla: my thoughts on her have changed the least. At first I used to think she was just the nicest of them. And then it changed to--- she is hiding a secret dark side or more layers we don't get to see.
Francis: I thought he was also the nicest, next to Camilla because he doesn't take any problematic actions. But it is his inability to take actions of his own that makes him bad. Although I still think he is underrated and often misunderstood
Charles: I couldn't stand Charles at first. And I can't just justify everything he did cuz he is terrible. It's just he is often used as a scapegoat to make Henry look better which I hate. He's a menace yes, but so is Henry!!!!!
Julian: I don't have a lot to say cuz we rarely see him. All I can say is he is not the mastermind of the whole story. He's a John Keating gone wrong example.
Bunny: my thoughts on Bunny have changed the most. From HATING him to feeling sympathy and even bad for him. I still won't agree he is somehow the best person out there, cuz he is definitely not. Bunny is hated to an extent that he doesn't deserve. And ounce and for all, he didn't deserve to die (I take back what I said about him in the past)
Judy: ounce a queen 👑 always a queen 👑
So this is it. Thanks TSH for being the bane and reason for my existence since the pandemic.
~ 🕊️
Henry Winter will ALSO tell you to look at wild ferns, and then push you off a cliff while you are looking for said ferns 🌿
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.
I read your theory!!!!! It was very well researched and well written <3 <3
I could never do that much research tbh 😂😂😂
So this might seem a bit "naive" when I try to use the argument of not liking the theory just because it doesn't sit right with me personally.
I have also written a theory about Richard lying about things to a degree that he might have made everything up. (He's like a self insert Y/N lol)
I am not Christian or know much about religion either way to comment on those types of things.
All I know from what I understood from the text is:
Bunny knew Henry was after him, he was completely paranoid about that. Him and Henry have a very complicated relationship that we see very little of.
To me Henry pushing Bunny will always be important--- cuz the idea of Bunny watching Henry kill him is just heartbreaking.
Bunny considered Henry his best friend, he loved him.
To see someone you care about so much END your life is tragic. Especially since Bunny wanted to live; he wanted to live forever. He wasn't even dead for ages, so he was lying there in the snow and if he could process things and think. Imagine how he must feel when his best friend killed him!!!!
Richard and Bunny have limited interactions and I do not find their dynamic as compelling as Richard and Henry's is. Richard spent more time with the rest of the friends than he did with Bunny.
Despite knowing Richard has more hand in the story, I still am in the minority of people who actually do NOT want Richard to have an active role.
I like how things are from his POV, he is so basic and normal (to a degree)
He's basically the audience surrogate; reacting rather than doing things actively for story to advance.
And I just prefer Richard that way!
This isn't trying to retract from your theory btw! I love when people have their own theories and discussions it's very fun to see and argue about.
I don't like that particular theory for personal reasons, but I did enjoy reading yours!
It must have taken ages 😭😭😭😭😭 (my old theories are still in the drafts lol)
Am I the only one who hates the "Richard pushed Bunny theory" (*_*)
I feel like it takes away sooo much from Bunny and Henry's friendship/relationship
Richard pushing Bunny does NOT have the same impact as Henry, Bunny's best friend pushing him to death.
Ik we want Richard to be more involved in the story but we don't have to take away from the huge implications behind Bunny's death at the hand of his FRIENDS
Richard just came into Bunny's life. Henry knew Bunny for years and was the closest to him in the group. I would rather someone he knew for years betraying him than a person who's barely a friend to him 🤷🏻♀️
Am I the only one who hates the "Richard pushed Bunny theory" (*_*)
I feel like it takes away sooo much from Bunny and Henry's friendship/relationship
Richard pushing Bunny does NOT have the same impact as Henry, Bunny's best friend pushing him to death.
Ik we want Richard to be more involved in the story but we don't have to take away from the huge implications behind Bunny's death at the hand of his FRIENDS
Richard just came into Bunny's life. Henry knew Bunny for years and was the closest to him in the group. I would rather someone he knew for years betraying him than a person who's barely a friend to him 🤷🏻♀️
I'll wait for your theory babe! 😍
This is all I got from my shallow reading, I picked up on the message about choosing your friend groups correctly when Richard decides to not be a part of Judy's clique.
This is something a lot of people struggle in school and college, in choosing the right people to be friends with.
CLEARLY Richard has more going on than he lets on, he is an unreliable narrator after all (I ounce made a post about how I think he made everything up)
However this post was about choosing the wrong people as friends and not about Richard's character as a whole (I tried to write an analysis but it's been in the drafts for months now 😀)
I loveee it when people discuss this book because there's just so much to make theories and views on. I change my opinions every time I read it, in fact.
No matter how much you talk about it, it's never enough.
The Greek Class didn't destroy Richard, he brought that on himself.
He chose to be destroyed and I am sure a part of him wanted to be.
He's the type of person who wants to be different, to be admired, to be apart from normal people.
That's why he tried to get in the Greek class in the first place even when Julian rejected him ounce, he wanted to be with the elites, to be exclusive.
Richard does show remorse for his actions at times but that doesn't mean he didn't find it thrilling.
He wanted an adventure, to see a tragedy, to be part of something dramatic and exciting. He was bored in his little town, around distant parents and normal friends.
He has always felt like he was above other people and he does look down on others who don't understand or follow his ideals.
His idolization of the Greek class is the reason he got destroyed, he was blinded by the opportunity to be included and accepted by them that he didn't look back at the mistakes he made for them.
Richard's story is a cautionary tale about foregoing your sanity and ethics for a broken, one sided friendship. They used him again and again, he did everything for them. Never questioning what he was really doing.
In the end, he was never a part of their group.
He was just there.
Honestly, Francis and Richard would vibe so much with "The Tortured Poet's Department"-----
The Greek Class didn't destroy Richard, he brought that on himself.
He chose to be destroyed and I am sure a part of him wanted to be.
He's the type of person who wants to be different, to be admired, to be apart from normal people.
That's why he tried to get in the Greek class in the first place even when Julian rejected him ounce, he wanted to be with the elites, to be exclusive.
Richard does show remorse for his actions at times but that doesn't mean he didn't find it thrilling.
He wanted an adventure, to see a tragedy, to be part of something dramatic and exciting. He was bored in his little town, around distant parents and normal friends.
He has always felt like he was above other people and he does look down on others who don't understand or follow his ideals.
His idolization of the Greek class is the reason he got destroyed, he was blinded by the opportunity to be included and accepted by them that he didn't look back at the mistakes he made for them.
Richard's story is a cautionary tale about foregoing your sanity and ethics for a broken, one sided friendship. They used him again and again, he did everything for them. Never questioning what he was really doing.
In the end, he was never a part of their group.
He was just there.