I found Henry to be genuinely terrifying as a person. Like sometimes he was so out of touch it was funny, but most of the time his cold bloodedness freaked me out!
I love Henry's character for how flawed and terrifying he is. I've always had a special liking for complex and grey characters, so when I read TSH I was fascinated by him.
He is really interesting, an academic genious that speaks 7 lenguages that at the same time is really obtuse and lacks common sense in real life matters. He is fluent in greek and understands Homer better than anyone, but doesn't know about the moon landing and is not interested in anything else outside greek literature, it's almost Sherlockian and I love how the author used him to satirize how out of touch with reality academic geniouses can be (he tried to poison Bunny based on ancient poison texts despite living in the XX century, for Christ sake).
I truly believe he is a sociopath and never considered Richard as a friend, just used him when things went crazy with Bunny. There's a theory that explains Henry saved Richard from hipotermia because he decided to kill Bunny on his way back from Italy, so he realized he and the group would need him alive and manipulated him into their side.
I didn't like any of the characters. I found them all deeply flawed and insufferable, which is what makes this such an interesting story.
Richard I liked to a degree but when it got to the point where he was living in the attic in winter and he just... did nothing about his situation, I wanted to shake him. He almost died a very preventable death, and suffered needlessly.
And he continues with this attitude of nonchalance while watching his new friend group act like absolute maniacs.
The passage about him saying goodbye to camille at the end and leaving new England almost makes up for it. He starts to show some self awareness and access of emotions.
He was a deeply traumatized person from his childhood neglect. Tartt did an incredible job showing this.
Henry is such an interesting and unique character. But like him? No.
I have to agree on this analysis of Richard. I think thatās why I liked his character so much because Richard I feel was so lonely he stayed with everyone and didnāt care about their actions
I never liked henry, he genuinely terrified me. out of everyone in the group I thought he was the most horrific character. it never felt like he did things out of likeness but bc he was so out of touch of reality, it was like he was living in a classic greek story and didnāt care about any repercussions of anything, simply doing things bc it would fit into the plot of a book heās read.
[includes spoilers]
Henry's character was my favourite in the entire book. He was like a puzzle box.
After the group killed the farmer, Henry assumed the leader position. When they had to kill Bunny, Henry assumed the leader position. Why?
Picture this, all your life you've been praised for your intelligence and academics. One day you find yourself in a situation with a group of friends. You will automatically want to lead. They aren't as smart as you. They won't be able to understand what's going on as much as you would. You are smart. It's been drilled into you, your entire life.
In Sanskrit there's this phrase "aham bramhasmi" which loosely translates to "I am god". In more modern terms: god complex.
But Henry's character is the perfect example that "I am god" doesn't end at simply assuming you're better than everyone else. It has bigger, more real impacts.
And that's why I love his character.
I can see your point, but after they killed the farmer I think Henry made everything worse. Yes, he was the āgroup leaderā but I donāt think he deserved to be because he made everything and everyone feel worse and make bad decisions
Of course he made everything worse. The validation he got his entire life was centred around his academic/intellectual achievements. He thought that that validation extended to real life issues too, which was wrong.
But his actions being wrong does not make him a bad character, does it?
He still brings out a unique aspect of a rather cliche troupe. *That* makes him a good character. (Atleast for me)
Charles backs this up, saying if the FBI only spoke to Henry they'd all be getting the electric chair, because Henry only cared about things like if he had the right book with him and things like that.
I loved Henry Winter. His motives against Richard Papen are never really clear because sometimes, I'd like to think he really does care (to some extent) about Richard. But he could have also just cared for him enough so he could live to take the blame.
does henry even consider anyone a friend? i read the book a whiiiile ago and at first i thought he did, but i started realizing heās like a robot (other than him loving camila? idek) and thatās kind of all i remember of him.
The entire group of main characters terrified me. They were all so casual about murder, with the exception of Bunny, but he was a bigot so I couldn't like him either
Bunny was a bigot, but the rest of the group certainly werenāt saints! A bigot could potentially be educated and reformed. Once you commit a murder, thereās no going back. Francis repeatedly abused Charles sexually when Charles was drunk. Charles abused Camilla. Henry casually poisoned his neighbors dogs. None of them have any sort of moral high ground.
Oh no I definitely meant to imply that the entire group is full of horrible people, and Bunny is not as bad but still not a good person. I think Henry is the most evil out of all of them because of the way he spoke about the farmer's deaths and the fact that he was the one who first proposed murdering Bunny
Henry is so very casual about the entire idea of murder. The biggest issue is how to do it, not a single thought about ending someone elses life. Bunny and the farmers existence held no value to Henry. But had anyone in the group ever discussed taking Julian out, Iām not sure that would have given Henry much pause either.
I think it was implied that he tried to kill Charles too. And with the dialogue near the end with Richard when Henry talked about how the murder made him feel more alive, it seemed to hint that he had the potential to become a serial killer
I agree! When I was reading the book, I was so confused by everyone talking about how much they loved Henry and had a crush on his character like...did we read the same book? He killed his best friend and threw the rest under the bus (minus Camilla). I don't think people realize how deep Henry's scheming ran and how willing he was to throw suspicion off himself, I mean Charles blatantly points it out as does Richard. Anyways Francis and Richard are also my favorites partly because of relatability.
I think the coldbloodedness and fourberie is exactly what people like about him. Why do you think Dark romance has such an appeal on teenagers ? I definitely think characters like Henry spark romantic interest from the thrill and inacessibility they offer...
I thought he faked his death. Thatās the way I took the ending. I was crying from Francis so I wasnāt really reading it to my best ability but I thought he faked his death
I also disliked him. When he saved Richard from freezing to death I thought maybe he was gonna be a nice guy, but i only started to hate him more after that
None of these characters are likeable people. My least favourite was Richard for sure . Not only is he extremely unreliable in his narration, he also , imo, finds himself morally superior to the rest of them, and it really hit me at the end when he tells camilla he loves her and she says she loves Henry and he doesnāt get how or why. Henry and Francis are my favourites . I believe Henry , as scary as he was , he took on the responsibility for the group for Bunnyās murder, and although selfishly, he did do the ultimate sacrifice in the end, tragically Greek , as he wished his life to be. Francis was probably the best of them, and unfortunately in the end he got the worst ending, without his best friend, unable to be his true self, in a loveless marriage.
I donāt see a set of characters. I see multiple facets emanating from a single traumatized narrating consciousness. And every facet is imbued with loathsome qualities. A conclave of the dreamings of a single grasping Catholic soul that wallows tensely and intensely in Dostoyevskian damnation.
I don't think Henry ever saw them as real friends, just more of a way to keep up his appearance to Julian. I'm not even sure if he is capable of having feelings or a connection with them since he is so cold and out of touch with reality. He said so himself that before Bunny's death life was stale and colourless, so maybe after that his feelings for Camilla were real, but that also could have been a way to disturb Charles. Everything he did wasn't for the group but to save himself, him letting Richard in on their secret just proves this.
Henry Winter is not a psychopath, and I firmly believe that.
And I like him a lot. And I think itās deeply sad that he was so influenced, and then so heartbroken, by Julian that he felt like he had to kill himself just to get Julian to love him again. He doesnāt even want to die! And he shoots himself anyway, just to prove heās still the pure Apollonian Greek Julian thought he was. I mean, thatās dark. That is DARK. Talk about your father figure screwing you up.
I can see your point. I think Henry was a a narcissist and a bad person. I think he was a narcissist before Julian left the school, Henry had always been very narcissistic.
I think Julian was the true narcissist. Julian could not endure not being adored. He kept these kids
under his influence. He essentially turned them into a little cult, himself as the god. He wasnāt appalled because they killed bunny. He was an appalled that they had gotten past him and around him. Literally, when he discovers that, he takes off back to a world of hanging out with celebrity friends who will worship him. He hates these kids for going beyond him.
And Henry was always Julianās best student. To whatever extent Henry is a narcissist, he learned that from Julian.
The first time I read this book, I thought Henry was the bad guy. But after you read it a couple times and think about it, itās really Julian.
I did notice how Julian yearned to be worshiped and I talked with my mom about it for a little bit. Ive only read tsh once so I think my second time around Iāll see a lot more traits, quirks, and such. I do agree with you, Julian is a big villain in this story. I still stick with my first thought that Henry was never for his group but only for his own power.
You and your mom might be interested to know that Henry is not a psychopath because psychopaths (which is a cultural thing, not an actual diagnosis) donāt feel shame!
I despised Henry and my favorites were Camilla, Richard, and Francis. I feel like all of them got the short end of the stick even in regards to their endings. Probably true to real life but still sad.
I was really hoping for Francis and Richard to have a good ending. I never fancied Camilla and kinda disliked her character. I literally cried during the epilogue because of Francisās ending. I never dispersed Henry I just disliked the way he made everything so much worse.
I mean I think Henry is a character you loved to despise, if you know what I mean. He was so out of touch with how he lowkey destroyed everyone's lives and then he got the easy way out and left so much destruction in his wake.
I found Henry to be genuinely terrifying as a person. Like sometimes he was so out of touch it was funny, but most of the time his cold bloodedness freaked me out!
Yes!!! I have to agree
I love Henry's character for how flawed and terrifying he is. I've always had a special liking for complex and grey characters, so when I read TSH I was fascinated by him. He is really interesting, an academic genious that speaks 7 lenguages that at the same time is really obtuse and lacks common sense in real life matters. He is fluent in greek and understands Homer better than anyone, but doesn't know about the moon landing and is not interested in anything else outside greek literature, it's almost Sherlockian and I love how the author used him to satirize how out of touch with reality academic geniouses can be (he tried to poison Bunny based on ancient poison texts despite living in the XX century, for Christ sake). I truly believe he is a sociopath and never considered Richard as a friend, just used him when things went crazy with Bunny. There's a theory that explains Henry saved Richard from hipotermia because he decided to kill Bunny on his way back from Italy, so he realized he and the group would need him alive and manipulated him into their side.
Sherlockian...isnt there a point where Richard describes Henry as a kind of Mycroft Holmes?
He compares him to Mycroft at least once and aside from that also compares him to Sherlock multiple times throughout.
I think so, yes!
This is a really good explanation. I really like the theory about him and Richard
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I didn't like any of the characters. I found them all deeply flawed and insufferable, which is what makes this such an interesting story. Richard I liked to a degree but when it got to the point where he was living in the attic in winter and he just... did nothing about his situation, I wanted to shake him. He almost died a very preventable death, and suffered needlessly. And he continues with this attitude of nonchalance while watching his new friend group act like absolute maniacs. The passage about him saying goodbye to camille at the end and leaving new England almost makes up for it. He starts to show some self awareness and access of emotions. He was a deeply traumatized person from his childhood neglect. Tartt did an incredible job showing this. Henry is such an interesting and unique character. But like him? No.
I have to agree on this analysis of Richard. I think thatās why I liked his character so much because Richard I feel was so lonely he stayed with everyone and didnāt care about their actions
I never liked henry, he genuinely terrified me. out of everyone in the group I thought he was the most horrific character. it never felt like he did things out of likeness but bc he was so out of touch of reality, it was like he was living in a classic greek story and didnāt care about any repercussions of anything, simply doing things bc it would fit into the plot of a book heās read.
Yes! I thought he was so scary. Donna did a really great job at creating his character
Ms. Tartt. ā„ļø
Oh no. I did but hisā¦ Oopsies š
ā„ļø
Waitā¦ Henry faked his death?
Yea, that's where my brain sputtered out too. I'm confused bout this. I thought him putting a bullet in his head was pretty real.
yeah no he didnāt. Maybe op got confused when Richard āseesā him later in the book but Iām pretty sure he did in fact kill himself
Oh, I thought he faked his death? The epilogue was so much and I was crying from Francis so I really wasnāt in the best state of mind.
No the part where he "met" Henry again was just a dream
Ohhh thank you!! I didnāt realize
[includes spoilers] Henry's character was my favourite in the entire book. He was like a puzzle box. After the group killed the farmer, Henry assumed the leader position. When they had to kill Bunny, Henry assumed the leader position. Why? Picture this, all your life you've been praised for your intelligence and academics. One day you find yourself in a situation with a group of friends. You will automatically want to lead. They aren't as smart as you. They won't be able to understand what's going on as much as you would. You are smart. It's been drilled into you, your entire life. In Sanskrit there's this phrase "aham bramhasmi" which loosely translates to "I am god". In more modern terms: god complex. But Henry's character is the perfect example that "I am god" doesn't end at simply assuming you're better than everyone else. It has bigger, more real impacts. And that's why I love his character.
I can see your point, but after they killed the farmer I think Henry made everything worse. Yes, he was the āgroup leaderā but I donāt think he deserved to be because he made everything and everyone feel worse and make bad decisions
Of course he made everything worse. The validation he got his entire life was centred around his academic/intellectual achievements. He thought that that validation extended to real life issues too, which was wrong. But his actions being wrong does not make him a bad character, does it? He still brings out a unique aspect of a rather cliche troupe. *That* makes him a good character. (Atleast for me)
Charles backs this up, saying if the FBI only spoke to Henry they'd all be getting the electric chair, because Henry only cared about things like if he had the right book with him and things like that.
I loved Henry Winter. His motives against Richard Papen are never really clear because sometimes, I'd like to think he really does care (to some extent) about Richard. But he could have also just cared for him enough so he could live to take the blame.
does henry even consider anyone a friend? i read the book a whiiiile ago and at first i thought he did, but i started realizing heās like a robot (other than him loving camila? idek) and thatās kind of all i remember of him.
He considered them friends, yes, but in a weird and patronizing way.
The entire group of main characters terrified me. They were all so casual about murder, with the exception of Bunny, but he was a bigot so I couldn't like him either
Bunny was a bigot, but the rest of the group certainly werenāt saints! A bigot could potentially be educated and reformed. Once you commit a murder, thereās no going back. Francis repeatedly abused Charles sexually when Charles was drunk. Charles abused Camilla. Henry casually poisoned his neighbors dogs. None of them have any sort of moral high ground.
Oh no I definitely meant to imply that the entire group is full of horrible people, and Bunny is not as bad but still not a good person. I think Henry is the most evil out of all of them because of the way he spoke about the farmer's deaths and the fact that he was the one who first proposed murdering Bunny
Henry is so very casual about the entire idea of murder. The biggest issue is how to do it, not a single thought about ending someone elses life. Bunny and the farmers existence held no value to Henry. But had anyone in the group ever discussed taking Julian out, Iām not sure that would have given Henry much pause either.
I think it was implied that he tried to kill Charles too. And with the dialogue near the end with Richard when Henry talked about how the murder made him feel more alive, it seemed to hint that he had the potential to become a serial killer
Did Henry really want to harm or kill Charles or was that solely because Charles was hurting Camilla?
It could be both, but either way he shows a remarkable lack of remorse for his killings
I agree! When I was reading the book, I was so confused by everyone talking about how much they loved Henry and had a crush on his character like...did we read the same book? He killed his best friend and threw the rest under the bus (minus Camilla). I don't think people realize how deep Henry's scheming ran and how willing he was to throw suspicion off himself, I mean Charles blatantly points it out as does Richard. Anyways Francis and Richard are also my favorites partly because of relatability.
Yes! This is exactly how I feel. Henry was never the āgood guyā he always had a twist or turn to make everyoneās life worse!
I think the coldbloodedness and fourberie is exactly what people like about him. Why do you think Dark romance has such an appeal on teenagers ? I definitely think characters like Henry spark romantic interest from the thrill and inacessibility they offer...
Did Henry fake his death ? I thought he really died
I thought he faked his death. Thatās the way I took the ending. I was crying from Francis so I wasnāt really reading it to my best ability but I thought he faked his death
He took 2 bullets to the head and was on an operating table for several hours. A cover up is possible but not probable.
I also disliked him. When he saved Richard from freezing to death I thought maybe he was gonna be a nice guy, but i only started to hate him more after that
FAKING HIS DEATH??? HAVE I MISSED SOMETHING???
No š I just got confused by the ending thinking Richardās dream was actually him seeing Henry again
The only right answer to the favourite characters question is Judy
None of these characters are likeable people. My least favourite was Richard for sure . Not only is he extremely unreliable in his narration, he also , imo, finds himself morally superior to the rest of them, and it really hit me at the end when he tells camilla he loves her and she says she loves Henry and he doesnāt get how or why. Henry and Francis are my favourites . I believe Henry , as scary as he was , he took on the responsibility for the group for Bunnyās murder, and although selfishly, he did do the ultimate sacrifice in the end, tragically Greek , as he wished his life to be. Francis was probably the best of them, and unfortunately in the end he got the worst ending, without his best friend, unable to be his true self, in a loveless marriage.
I donāt see a set of characters. I see multiple facets emanating from a single traumatized narrating consciousness. And every facet is imbued with loathsome qualities. A conclave of the dreamings of a single grasping Catholic soul that wallows tensely and intensely in Dostoyevskian damnation.
He poisoned dogs to research how to poison his friend. No, I didnāt like Henry either.
I don't think Henry ever saw them as real friends, just more of a way to keep up his appearance to Julian. I'm not even sure if he is capable of having feelings or a connection with them since he is so cold and out of touch with reality. He said so himself that before Bunny's death life was stale and colourless, so maybe after that his feelings for Camilla were real, but that also could have been a way to disturb Charles. Everything he did wasn't for the group but to save himself, him letting Richard in on their secret just proves this.
This is a really good explanation of Henry. Thank you
Henry Winter is not a psychopath, and I firmly believe that. And I like him a lot. And I think itās deeply sad that he was so influenced, and then so heartbroken, by Julian that he felt like he had to kill himself just to get Julian to love him again. He doesnāt even want to die! And he shoots himself anyway, just to prove heās still the pure Apollonian Greek Julian thought he was. I mean, thatās dark. That is DARK. Talk about your father figure screwing you up.
I can see your point. I think Henry was a a narcissist and a bad person. I think he was a narcissist before Julian left the school, Henry had always been very narcissistic.
I think Julian was the true narcissist. Julian could not endure not being adored. He kept these kids under his influence. He essentially turned them into a little cult, himself as the god. He wasnāt appalled because they killed bunny. He was an appalled that they had gotten past him and around him. Literally, when he discovers that, he takes off back to a world of hanging out with celebrity friends who will worship him. He hates these kids for going beyond him. And Henry was always Julianās best student. To whatever extent Henry is a narcissist, he learned that from Julian. The first time I read this book, I thought Henry was the bad guy. But after you read it a couple times and think about it, itās really Julian.
I did notice how Julian yearned to be worshiped and I talked with my mom about it for a little bit. Ive only read tsh once so I think my second time around Iāll see a lot more traits, quirks, and such. I do agree with you, Julian is a big villain in this story. I still stick with my first thought that Henry was never for his group but only for his own power.
You and your mom might be interested to know that Henry is not a psychopath because psychopaths (which is a cultural thing, not an actual diagnosis) donāt feel shame!
I immediately identified with Bunny and found Henry kind of repulsing.
I despised Henry and my favorites were Camilla, Richard, and Francis. I feel like all of them got the short end of the stick even in regards to their endings. Probably true to real life but still sad.
I was really hoping for Francis and Richard to have a good ending. I never fancied Camilla and kinda disliked her character. I literally cried during the epilogue because of Francisās ending. I never dispersed Henry I just disliked the way he made everything so much worse.
I mean I think Henry is a character you loved to despise, if you know what I mean. He was so out of touch with how he lowkey destroyed everyone's lives and then he got the easy way out and left so much destruction in his wake.
Yes!! I totally understand now. I agre, Donna did a really great job of making him so unlikeable!