YMMV / The Goldfinch

The Novel

• Crosses the Line Twice: Boris stealing the Goldfinch from its wrappings and bringing it into the stolen art market while Theo imagines it's safe in storage is not funny, especially when people get killed over it. The fact that he replaces it with a social studies textbook with a Glurge-y cover, however, is sheer Refuge in Audacity.
• Designated Hero: As an adult, Theo is a thief, a Functional Addict, involved in an elaborate forgery scheme that will likely ruin the livelihood of the man who took him in when he was orphaned, is obsessed with a woman who has not encouraged his attentions (and is not his fiancee), and even eventually kills someone, though it was self-defense. He has a Freudian Excuse for a lot of this, but at times it can be tough to buy that we're supposed to root for him.
• Heartwarming Moments: At the end, when Hobie accepts and forgives Theo after hearing his full story, including how he sold forgeries and hid the painting.
• Moral Event Horizon: When Theo's father hits and threatens him in an attempt to steal his inheritance, it's clear that his father will never reform.
• Nightmare Fuel: Theo's father threatening and hitting his son in an attempt to get Theo's inheritance money so that he can pay off his debts, then completely breaking down when he finds out that the teenaged Theo is not authorised to give him the money. It comes almost out of nowhere and is as shocking for the reader as for Theo.
• Tear Jerker: Teenage Theo being alone in his flat after the attack on the Metropolitan, waiting to hear word about his mother. For as long as he can, he refuses to believe she might have died, even passing the time fixing a jammed kitchen drawer that has been bugging her for ages.

The Film

• Ensemble Dark Horse: Andy is well-liked even by some who didn't like the movie itself as a witty character with some good depths (the same might also be said of his book counterpart).

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