Literary Criticisms

Throughout The Goldfinch, Tartt employs a literary device called ekphrasis, where a piece of visual art is closely scrutinized and given a deeper meaning. Ekphrasis demonstrates how people relate to art. Tartt’s usage of ekphrasis highlights the themes of ephemeralism and attachment to trauma. 

Theo Decker latches on to The Goldfinch painting as a last connection to his deceased mother. The painting anchors him to his mother, but it also offers him no comfort, and it quickly becomes the albatross around his neck, both anchoring him to the past and also causing him guilt and fear on the daily. Theo refuses to let go of perfection; he understands that life is ephemeral, but he never learns to apply this to himself, causing toxic obsession, drug addiction, and guilt. Theo understands what he needs to do to be happy, which is that “our greatest treasures are only what we can save from the passage of time - and yet Theo can’t take that as a cue to live while he can.”

Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory proposes that humans go through eight stages of lifelong growth. He believed that failure at one stage of development would lead to failure at all the remaining stages. Parents are behavior models, and the absence of them causes stunted social and emotional growth. 

At preschool age, Theo is terrified of his father’s presence and terrified of his mother leaving. He fails at the preschool age because he’s dependent on his mother and scared of his father, making him less courageous and independent. After the death of his mother, he blames himself and becomes obsessed with the trauma, latching on to Pippa and developing a bad-influence friendship with Boris. He expresses his negative feelings though misbehavior, and the incident of his mother’s death is never moved past, causing his personality to be entirely shaped by the trauma. As a young adult, he lies to make a living, is a drug addict, and marries for social mobility and conformity. His actions as an adult are not at all separate from his childhood; they’re a direct continuation of it.

This analysis uses the New Critical theory, which looks only at the text and avoids bringing in author experiences and viewpoints. This theory is sometimes considered inaccessible to most readers, and typically favors poetry, but the author of this analysis, Maria Grip, believes that it gives a deeper insight into the multiple different viewpoints in this story.

Every character in this novel struggles for and fears losing control. This aspect leads to chaos and destruction of relationships. Control is simply an illusion, because the power does not ultimately lie with who seemed to have the most control. Henry is the leader of the group, but his actions are actually quite frenetic, and he ultimately commits suicide as a last stab at maintaing control. He convinces the group to murder Bunny, as Bunny blackmails them about the murder that occurred the night of the bacchanal. The group views murdering Bunny as a “reasonable and necessary solution.” However, it just creates more instability, as the act eats away at the psyches of the characters. Bunny is ultimately left with the most power even beyond his death, because he was the cause of all of the big issues that haunt his friends, before and after death.

The Classics group interact with each other in very distinct ways. For instance, it initially appears that Bunny is fully integrated into the group,holding the same level of wealth as them. It is, however, slowly revealed that Bunny relies on the wealth of the others to get by. His clothes are ripped and he’s constantly asking for money. This greed is just as important as his knowledge of the bacchanal when it comes to the drive for murdering him. He was certainly the nail that stuck out, and was consequently hammered down. Additionally, Richard and Henry take on a master and disciple dynamic. Richard romanticises Henry so much that he’s able to excuse his ruthless actions, to the point of wanting to be like Henry. 

Cold and warmth are an effective dichotomy throughout the novel, with incoming snow, cold weather, or wind signalling something bad is about to happen. Instances of warmth exist solely to highlight and enhance the cold. Throughout the book, Richard continues to choose cold, showing that he is making a conscious choice to follow along with the bad things that are happening, to the point of sleeping in an unheated building during a very cold winter, almost killing himself in the process. It’s also important to note that Richard comes from a warm place, and went to Hampden entirely for the aesthetics. 

Every character in The Secret History, but particularly Richard and Camilla, are forced into roles of belonging. Every character has a fantasy version of who they want to be, but none of them live up to that, meaning that, “...deception (is) required to fit into the classicist society.”

Richard, in an effort to fit into the group, lies that his family is of Californian new money. He studies Greek because it’s convenient for him, and splits his classmates from the rest of his school in his mind. Ultimately, though, Richard is able to let go of the fantasy of elitism, leading him to a relatively happy and successful life following the main events of the story, while the others continue to live in that world, making them all sad and hopeless.

Camilla is an object of desire for all of the boys, consciously or unconsciously. She is the token woman of the group, and as such is given special treatment by the boys. After college, she relies on Henry’s protection and assistance to get by, leaving her with very little agency. Although she is initially portrayed as their equal, it becomes more and more apparent over time that she is simply an object of fantasy.