#the word tragedy prob comes from the word tràgos which means goat bc it was the prize for the best tragedy. tsh is a tragedy to me

[purplebass]

The way Henry's fate as well as Richard's is foreshadowed through what happens to Bunny. They are foil characters. Both Henry and Bunny wear glasses and the former moves the threads. He also moves the threads by sustaining Bunny's fake appearance. Even before he's trying to kiss up to him so he won't say anything about what he suspects the group did, Henry takes care of his bills at restaurants or bars. When Richard became part of their group, Bunny believed that he was the "new" Henry and that he could be the one to support the lifestyle he couldn't afford. He soon realized that Richard wasn't wealthy and was just like him, but they behaved differently with others. Richard would've rather starved in that cold shed than calling anybody for help, while Bunny demanded the most expensive hotel from Henry. Henry helps both - heck, Henry helps everyone all the time. But what for? If we have to think about philosophy, Henry is a stoic. His final gesture could be seen as selfish (he feared that because of what Charles did, the police would discover their crimes) but it could also be seen like the stoics did: a life of virtue wasn't possible so Henry decided to stop it and save the others. He has a savior complex and he is quite unemotional to the point of looking like a sociopath, which is interesting. He is indeed stoic. As far as the classic philosophical schools go, then Bunny is an epicurean. He seeks pleasure in everything and is aware that he can't get it because pleasure is expensive. He can only mooch off other people. In a way, his demise is a punishment for his search of hedonism. Richard is a skeptic. He is deeply upset by what happened and questions everyone's actions and would want to distance himself from this, but he never does. He questions everything but it's like the course of the events brings him to his conclusion. He also thinks that maybe Henry planned all of this (which, he will never know. The fact that Henry was transferring the ownership of his car to Richard and every time he made him find things out was sus). Richard ended up being a casualty in this even though he lived at the end - albeit with a scar on his abdomen that will forever remind him of what happened. They both had a wound on their head (as did Camilla, but this is a conversation for another day). The day Richard got his, Henry "saved" him. Did he save him because he needed someone on whom put the blame if things got bad... or he genuinely cared about him? Richard still thinks about this in the end, but it feels like it doesn't matter because even if Henry had wanted to frame him (like I said, we will never know), he still loves Henry and misses Bunny all the same, and got neither, not even Camilla. They all left him.

Would have things gone differently, if Charles hadn't showed up at the inn that day? Would the book have ended with Richard framed for the crimes that the group committed and had been their scapegoat?