Today is the discussion day for our Read With Us winter book, The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
Kym, Carole,
and I are each posting a discussion question or two on our blogs today,
and you are welcome to respond in the comments. I would also encourage
you to reply to others' comments if you choose. This is a book
discussion, after all, so there are no correct answers or right
opinions. I've been looking forward to discussing this book, even though I've been thinking of it as The Bunch of Awful Privileged Characters and the Morally Bankrupt Man That Taught Them. I don't know of a better bunch of people for a book
discussion than all of you.
So my questions are about Julian Morrow, the Classics professor. Julian
finds out
about the murders in the section after he receives that heartbreaking
final letter from Bunny. When Richard sees Julian’s reaction, he
mentally reclassifies Julian as no longer a “good parent” but someone
“ambiguous, a moral neutral, whose beguiling trappings concealed a being
watchful, capricious, and heartless.” What did you think of Julian? He is an enigmatic and charismatic presence in The Secret History, revered by his students for his deep knowledge of the Classics and his unconventional teaching methods. To what extent do you think Julian is a true mentor and father figure, and how much of his influence is merely performative? Does he genuinely care for his students, or is he more of a detached observer? Considering his role in shaping their worldview, do you believe he bears any responsibility for the events that unfold, including the murders? Why or why not?
I'll
be glad to share my thoughts about these questions tonight during our
Zoom discussion. These questions on our blogs and the Zoom discussion
are your chance to express your ideas. So what do you think?
I can't wait to hear your thoughts! (And I'm counting on our discussion
to give me fresh perspectives in my own thinking about this novel.)
The in-person Zoom discussion will be at 7:00 pm Eastern this evening.
If you haven't RSVP'd to Kym already you can send me an email (the
email address is in the upper right) and I will make sure you get an
invitation with the Zoom link. I hope to see you there!
I found Julian to be the most unlikeable of all the characters, if that is possible. He seemed to be to be so controlling... I must be your "all" while you are here. A few warning flags go off early in the book, but they are ignored. In my second read through, it seems to me that Julian created this "learning" environment for some kind of a little experiment he could watch unfold.
ReplyDeleteI originally imagined Julian as sort of kindly professor type, albeit slightly weird. I was a little surprised at his fast exit from the results of his experiment, but by then he was finally showing me that he was not a kindly professor!
DeleteI always thought Julian only cared about his students insomuch as they reflected on him -- if they did well or did great things, it was because of his skill as a teacher and mentor. He never really cared about them as people, as evidenced by the fact that when he learned what they had done, he up and left them all.
ReplyDeleteI think you're correct about thinking of his students only as a reflection of him, especially with his strange demand about him being the one to teach them every subject. Everything was fine up until the point that it was not a reflection that he could face and ran away.
DeleteOh, Julian. He was truly despicable . . . but I wonder if he had a clue, really, about what he was doing to this particular group of students - or where they would go with his teachings. I do think he thought of himself as a "parental" figure, trying to "mold" his "children"/students into perfect, classical beings. But that didn't work out so well . . . and when that became clear to him, he scuttled back into the woods (or wherever he came from).
ReplyDeleteJulian definitely viewed himself as a parental figure and I think all the students thought of him in that way also. I think he had this classical ideal in mind with his teachings, but he didn't pay enough attention to the tragedies that he was teaching his students.
DeleteJulian is definitely a despicable character...but any more than the others? True, he may have "coached" (for lack of a better word) them along, but I think all of the students would have found their way to the horrors they did anyway. And, Julian was "chicken shit" - scared of what would happen to him when it was revealed what his students had done...and thus he up and left.
ReplyDeleteI think Julian is both an enabler and an abdicator. He inspires his students, but he does not take responsibility for where that inspiration leads them. While he might not be directly responsible for the murders, he is complicit in creating the conditions that made them possible. His detachment, which once seemed like wisdom, is ultimately revealed as moral cowardice. What a guy!
DeleteI think he cared for them in that he was in charge of that little group and could observe all they did while being the father figure instructor that held their future (school wise) in his hands. I think that is why he kept his classes so small, he wanted a select few to observe and instruct. It seemed to me that he cared about him but the minute he knew what they did, he was out of there.
ReplyDelete