The Secret History

by Donna Tartt

The Secret History: Flashbacks 1 key example

Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Dionysian Ritual:

When Richard finally guesses the reason for the Greek students' strange behavior, Henry decides to tell him what really happened that fated fall night. In a flashback, Henry recounts the events of the Dionysian ritual:

I looked down at my hand and saw it was covered with blood, and worse than blood. Then Charles stepped forward and knelt at something at my feet, and I bent down, too, and saw that it was a man. He was dead. […] And his neck was broken, and, unpleasant to say, his brains were all over his face. Really, I do not know how that happened. […] Charles tells a different story. […] Francis—well, I can’t say. Every time you talk to him, he remembers something different.