'The Secret History': Who Am I? Quiz

Answer: Richard Papen

Richard Papen, from whose point of view the book is told, is a lower middle-class Californian who becomes a Classics student entirely by accident - it just happens to be convenient for his schedule - and is entranced by the Hampden College brochure. He does not get on with his parents. He sees the Classics clique as something romantic and exciting, and longs to be a part of them, but feels ashamed of his background and lies about it, claiming to be richer than he is. (Bunny figures this out and taunts him about it.) When he joins Julian's class, he becomes a part of the clique. Unlike the rest of the clique, he socialises with other students, often going to parties and getting drunk and doing drugs with Judy. Although he and Henry do not get on at first, it is Henry who saves him when he nearly freezes to death during the winter, due to living in an unheated house. He figures out that Henry and the clique killed someone, and that is why they are escaping to Argentina. Bunny eventually confides in him about the murder, and Richard in turn tells Henry, making Henry even more determined to kill Bunny before he tells the wrong person.

After Bunny dies, Richard has the grim realisation that he is stuck with the clique forever, and is struck by the full horror of what they did. He becomes addicted to pills. At the climax of the book, Charles accidentally shoots him. Although he asks Camilla to marry him, she turns him down. He later becomes an academic, and is notably the only member of the clique to finish his course.

Answer: Julian Morrow

Julian Morrow is a Classics professor who is the subject of many rumours, not all of them true. He has met several famous people, including George Orwell - who disliked him - and Marilyn Monroe. Bunny describes him as 'the kind of person who'd give you a box of chocolates and take all his favourites'. Richard's French professor warns him that Julian is very picky about who he accepts in his classes, and that they will have to read certain books and have a certain mindset in order to be accepted. Although Julian turns Richard down at first, Richard goes to talk to him after helping Bunny and the twins with a piece of translation, and Julian accepts him into the class, on the proviso that he drop most of his other classes and have Julian as his tutor. Julian believes that it is better for a student to have one teacher than many, in keeping with ancient Greek tradition.

Julian is concerned that Bunny is not attending his classes, and Richard thinks Julian knows they are lying about Bunny's whereabouts. Julian helps take part in the search for Bunny's body. Although classes carry on as normal, Julian eventually finds a letter purporting to be from Bunny, begging him to help him, and saying that Henry has killed a man and will kill Bunny too. Julian thinks it is a fake, but to Richard's horror, the letter has the letterhead of the Excelsior Hotel where Henry and Bunny stayed, proving that Bunny actually typed it. Francis and Richard try to conceal the letter, but unfortunately, Julian sees the letterhead and Henry confesses. Disgusted, Julian flees the country, leaving the class without a tutor, and Richard never sees him again. Henry reveals that Julian did not want to have his name dragged into the murder investigation. Both Richard and Henry are devastated, as Julian was like a father figure to them.

Answer: Charles Macaulay

Charles Macaulay is one of the twins - the other being Camilla - and comes from a Catholic family in Virginia. He and Camilla were raised by their grandparents after their parents were killed in a car crash. Richard is struck by the beauty of the twins. He helps them and Bunny with a translation of a Greek sentence, and becomes friendly with the twins, though he finds them rather distant. Charles is a heavy drinker, and after the murder of the farmer, Bunny mocks him over it, leaving Alcoholics Anonymous pamphlets where he can see. Charles is also later revealed to be using Francis for sex, though he always claims not to remember.

Bunny's death has a disastrous effect on Charles' mental health and he starts drinking even more heavily, to the point where he is hospitalised, and also gets arrested for drunk driving and crashing Henry's car. At Bunny's funeral, he gets stoned with Bunny's friends. He also becomes increasingly antagonistic towards Henry, as the bacchanal was Henry's idea, and Charles worries that Henry will get them all arrested. After Bunny's body is found, Henry and Charles - mainly Charles - are questioned by the FBI. Charles realises Henry is trying to kill him when Henry gives him tablets which are dangerous when combined with alcohol. After Henry and Camilla move into a hotel together, Charles tracks them down and tries to kill Henry with Francis' Beretta, but ends up accidentally shooting Richard. He drops out of college and later gets a job as a pianist in a bar, but is fired for his drinking, and runs away with a married woman he meets in rehab. He and Camilla are estranged.

Answer: Judy Poovey

Judy Poovey is not part of the clique, but lives in the same halls of residence as Richard, and latches on to him as a fellow Californian (and seems to have a crush on him as well, though Richard is not interested). She works in costume design, and is always going out drinking and partying, sometimes with Richard. For the reader, she provides a perspective of an outsider, and gives an insight into how most students see the clique, as a bunch of stuck-up weirdos who live in the past. She dislikes the clique after an incident where she got into an argument with Camilla and poured beer over her head, and Henry and Charles came to Camilla's defence and threatened Judy. She is also a major source of gossip for Richard - for instance, it is through her that Richard learns about the mirror that may have been planted in Bunny's room, and that Henry has been researching poisonous plants.

After Bunny's death, Judy - unaware of the circumstances in which he died - and her friends comfort Richard, taking him out for Mexican food and watching MTV. Richard reveals at the end that Judy has become a fitness instructor and appears on TV.

Answer: Henry Winter

Henry is one of the key characters in the story, and the mastermind behind both the Bacchanal that ends in the farmer's death, and Bunny's murder. He is a rich genius and polyglot who is fascinated by ancient cultures, but has no interest in popular culture and is not even aware that the Moon landings occurred. He idolises Julian, even buying the same pens as him. He and the rest of the Classics clique try to hold a Bacchanal in the woods after Julian discusses it in class, and they spend ages preparing for it and trying not to arouse Richard's suspicion. Henry, Francis and the twins eventually decide to leave Bunny out of the ritual as they feel he is not taking it seriously and worry he might ruin it. During the Bacchanal, Henry stumbles into something and blindly punches out, and discovers that he has killed a farmer by splitting his head open. He and the others consider fleeing to South America, but are foiled by Francis not being able to access his money. He finds Richard in a freezing attic and takes him to hospital, and the two become more friendly with each other.

While Richard is staying in the attic, Henry and Bunny go on holiday to Rome, where Bunny spends Henry's money, and while Henry is ill, Bunny discovers his diary. The diary mentions the murder, and Bunny snaps. Henry eventually gets tired of Bunny's behaviour and returns to Hampden, and begins plotting to kill Bunny. He initially considers poisoning him, but as it is too much effort, he decides to push Bunny into a ravine and make it look like an accident. Unfortunately, the onset of snow complicates matters and Bunny's body is found much later than Henry had hoped. Both Henry and Charles are investigated by the FBI, and Henry has to go to court after Charles crashes his car while drunk. While at Bunny's parents' house for the funeral, Henry is high on painkillers and shocks people by smearing mud on his chest at the burial. Richard finds his increasingly strange and sociopathic behaviour difficult to deal with. He moves into the Albemarle Hotel with Camilla. At the climax of the novel, after getting Francis' gun off Charles, he commits one final murder by shooting himself in the head. He appears in Richard's dream at the end.

Answer: Camilla Macaulay

Camilla is the only female member of the clique, and Charles' twin sister. She is a somewhat enigmatic figure, and Richard is in love with her. He is entranced by hearing her recite Clytemnestra's lines about stabbing Agamemnon in Greek. Bunny frequently makes sexist digs at her and implies that she and Charles must be in an incestuous relationship as they are living together. (Richard suspects this, but dismisses it as just his imagination.) During the Bacchanal, she hallucinates that she has turned into a deer, and is unable to speak coherently for days afterwards.

Camilla and Charles drift apart over the course of the story, and Camilla reveals that Charles has been physically abusing her. Francis also confirms that the twins are in an incestuous relationship, that Camilla is leading Richard on, and that Charles is jealous and possessive towards other men he sees as a threat. She leaves Charles and moves in with Henry - who she has been seeing for some time - at the Albemarle Hotel, and Henry kisses her before killing himself. Three years later, she, Richard and Francis are reunited after Francis' suicide attempt, and it is revealed that she has become a recluse and spends most of her time taking care of her grandmother. Richard asks her to marry him, but she refuses because she loves Henry.

Answer: Cloke Rayburn

Cloke Rayburn is Bunny's childhood best friend, a notorious drug dealer, and is very familiar with Bunny's house and family as he spent a lot of time there. Although he is a minor character, he plays an important role in the second part of the book when Bunny goes missing, and both he and Bunny's girlfriend Marion are worried. Camilla keeps an eye on him by going on a date with him. Cloke reveals that he has contacts in New York, and that Bunny was interested in getting involved in his drug dealing business. Cloke's friendship with Bunny provides a false lead for the FBI and the police, as they initially suspect Bunny's death may be drug-related, and Henry is relieved as he hopes Cloke will keep the FBI off his back. Cloke is given community service, and he and many others are made to take part in a quiz about drugs, after the unwanted attention from the FBI causes Hampden to have a major crackdown on drugs.

At Bunny's funeral, Cloke notices Richard looking for medicine for Henry in the bathroom, and tells him to steal some tablets from Mrs Corcoran, as she has a massive supply of drugs. He also notes that Camilla has been talking to someone - very likely Henry - late at night, and Richard has to warn Camilla to be careful what she says in front of Cloke. After the funeral, Cloke tells Richard that the FBI mentioned his name in an interview, and Richard realises that Henry may have given his name to the FBI. After Cloke leaves college, he goes to law school and gets a job at a firm where Bunny's brother Hugh is a partner, working in mergers and acquisitions.

Answer: Edmund 'Bunny' Corcoran

Bunny Corcoran comes from a large and dysfunctional family in Connecticut, with an alcoholic father and a drug-addicted mother. He is bigoted, outspoken and careless with money. He takes Richard out for a big meal and pretend to have left his wallet at home, and Henry has to bail them out. He is the only member of the clique not involved in the Bacchanal, and when the clique arrive home in bloodstained clothes, they tell him they hit a deer. However, Bunny suspects that they are lying, noting details such as a bite mark in Charles' arm, and puts two and two together after seeing an article about a murder on the night of the Bacchanal. He grows increasingly erratic, making digs at the other members of the clique and joking about lawyers and the death penalty, and they worry that he is going to give them away. While on holiday in Rome with Henry, he learns about the murder of the farmer through reading Henry's diary. He later tells Richard everything while drunk. Not long afterwards, he finds the rest of the clique in the woods near a ravine, and grows suspicious. Henry pushes him over the edge, and he falls to his death.

Bunny's body is buried under snow, but is eventually found by a girl walking her dog when the snow starts to melt. Richard has a vivid nightmare about him, and his death causes the group to unravel, both individually and as a whole.

Answer: Francis Abernathy

Francis is from Boston, and is the son of a teenage mother who had a one-night stand with a rock star. His grandparents raised him alongside her. As a child, he was sent to an expensive institute in Switzerland where he was constantly psychoanalysed, and he suffers from panic attacks. His aunt owns a big house in the country, and the clique spend several weekends there and use it as a base. (It is the area near the house where the Bacchanal takes place.) He is openly gay, and Bunny constantly goads him by making homophobic remarks after the murder of the farmer. He kisses Richard when both of them are drunk, but ends up sleeping with Charles. Like Henry, he spends countless money on indulging Bunny in the hope of keeping him quiet. He is the reason the escape plan to Argentina fails, as he is unable to access money from his principal account.

Francis' anxiety becomes more and more severe after Bunny's death, and he smokes more frequently. He makes Richard take him to hospital when he has a suspected heart attack, which turns out to be a severe panic attack, and his mother thinks he has a drug problem. While staying at the house in the country with Charles and Richard, Charles steals a Beretta gun and a truck, and escapes, intending to kill Henry.

Francis and Richard keep in touch after Henry dies and Richard graduates. Three years later, he tries to commit suicide by slashing his wrists, sending Richard a suicide note in which he wishes Henry had shot them all. He survives, but is unhappy as he is being forced into a marriage of convenience with a woman. His homophobic grandparents have caught him with his boyfriend, and give him the choice of either marrying Priscilla or being cut off. As Francis does not want to work for a living, he submits and marries Priscilla, and moves to New York. He has a cameo in another Tartt book, 'The Goldfinch'.

Answer: Laura Stora

Laura Stora is a minor character who is a friend of Judy, and is often mentioned by her in passing. Judy thinks she might be anorexic. Laura is another drug dealer, supplying Ecstasy tablets at parties, and also owns a large mirror known as the Snow Queen, which is often used by other students for snorting cocaine.

She freaks out when the mirror is found in Bunny's room and is traced to her, and other students suspect it was planted there by the FBI, who discover that Laura is a drug dealer. The presence of the mirror increases suspicion that Bunny was involved in drugs.

She is on probation and doing community service for drug offences, and is also forced to take part in the drugs awareness quiz along with Cloke and several other students involved in drugs.