History Literature / TheGoldfinch

* TwoDecadesBehind: The description of Theo's father Larry recalls '70s and '80s actors typecast in "bad boy" roles, such as [[MiamiVice Don Johnson]] or Creator/JamesCaan. Theo's narration describes him as a "relic" of that era. Fittingly, his risky, decadent lifestyle is rooted in the late 20th century and hasn't budged for a present that demands more resourcefulness and caution.

* TheArtfulDodger: Boris to a "T." Upon meeting him, Hobie, who has heard about him from Theo, admits that he has been picturing him as the TropeNamer from Dickens' ''Literature/OliverTwist''.

* TheArtfulDodger: Boris to a "T." Upon meeting him, Hobie, who has heard about him from Theo, admits that he has been picturing him as the TropeNamer from CharlesDickens' ''Literature/OliverTwist''.

* TheArtfulDodger: Boris to a "T"

* FauxAffablyEvil: Lucius Reeve

* LovableRogue: Boris all the way

* TheCameo: [[spoiler: Francis Abernathy from ''Literature/TheSecretHistory.]]

* SmokingIsCool: Boris exemplifies this trope

* DrugsAreBad: Downplayed. Theo and Boris take ''quite'' a lot of drugs from their early teens and on. While it doesn't send them into a AfterschoolSpecial-style tailspin of self-destruction, it still has a deleterious effect on their lives. In adulthood, Theo has become a FunctionalAddict who struggles with getting off the pills.

* XtremeKoolLetterz: Xandra (''not'' "Sandra") spells her name with an X in a rather silly attempt to be edgy.

* AngstWhatAngst: 13-year old Theo doesn't seem too fazed when he sees a decapitated woman in the museum. [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality He only starts to freak out when he finds where his mother should be]].

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: A lot of the things Theo and Boris get up to over the course of the novel are pretty reprehensible [[spoiler: e.g. Boris stealing the painting from Theo, Theo passing off the Chimeras as legitimate knowing full-well it would ruin Hobie's credibility if discovered]] but when these things come to light, no one is particularly bothered by them in the long term. Boris even speculates that [[GrayAndGrayMorality if they hadn't done bad things earlier, later good things would never have happened.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Theo stole the painting as a child, and as an adult he is a FunctionalAddict, involved in an elaborate forgery scheme that could ruin the man who took him in as a [[TroubledChild Troubled Teen]], and even eventually [[spoiler: kills someone]]. Despite all this, [[spoiler: things mostly work out for him: he's able to get off scot-free from both the murder and stealing the painting after turning in someone else, and pays off his debts from the forgery scam with the reward money.]]

* DesignatedHero: As an adult, Theo is a thief, a FunctionalAddict, involved in an elaborate forgery scheme that will likely [[UngratefulBastard ruin the livelihood of the man who took him in when he was orphaned]], is [[StalkingIsLove obsessed with a woman who has not encouraged his attentions]] [[YourCheatingHeart (and is not his fiancee)]], and even eventually [[spoiler: kills someone, though it was arguably self-defense]]. He has a FreudianExcuse for a lot of this, but at times it can be tough to buy that we're supposed to root for him.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: As an adult, Theo is a thief, a FunctionalAddict, involved in an elaborate forgery scheme that will likely [[UngratefulBastard ruin the livelihood of the man who took him in when he was orphaned]], is [[StalkingIsLove obsessed with a woman who has not encouraged his attentions]] [[YourCheatingHeart (and is not his fiancee)]], and even eventually [[spoiler: kills someone, though it was arguably self-defense]]. He has a FreudianExcuse for a lot of this, but at times it can be tough to buy that we're supposed to root for him.

* TheUnfavorite: Andy Barbour is the odd man out in his family.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: As an adult, Theo is a thief, a FunctionalAddict, involved in an elaborate forgery scheme that will likely [[UngratefulBastard ruin the livelihood of the man who took him in when he was orphaned]], [[StalkingIsLove obsessed with a woman who has not encouraged his attentions (and is not his fiancee)]], and even eventually [[spoiler: kills someone, though it was arguably self-defense]]. He has a FreudianExcuse for a lot of this, but at times it can be tough to buy that we're supposed to root for him.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: As an adult, Theo is a thief, a FunctionalAddict, involved in an elaborate forgery scheme, [[StalkingIsLove obsessed with a woman who has not encouraged his attentions (and is not his fiancee)]], and even eventually [[spoiler: kills someone, though it was arguably self-defense]]. He has a FreudianExcuse for a lot of this, but at times it can be tough to buy that we're supposed to root for him.

* KarmaHoudini: Theo stole the painting as a child, and as an adult he is a FunctionalAddict, involved in an elaborate forgery scheme that could ruin the man who took him in as a TroubledTeen, and even eventually [[spoiler: kills someone]]. Despite all this, [[spoiler: things mostly work out for him: he's able to get off scot-free from both the murder and stealing the painting after turning in someone else, and pays off his debts from the forgery scam with the reward money.]]

When young Theo Decker's mother is killed by WesternTerrorists in an attack on a New York art museum, Theo finds himself moving between a variety of guardians, including his mother's wealthy but emotionally distant friends and an [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] with a gambling compulsion. All the while Theo makes a number of quirky and unusual friends, including a charmingly dishonest elderly antiques dealer/swindler named Hobie, an irreverent and anti-intellectual globe-trotting European druggie named [[TheArtfulDodger Boris]], and his true love [[BrokenBird Pippa]] - every bit as broken and confused as himself. Just as he makes unusual, morally dubious friends, Theo faces challenges to his well-being from a number of equally quirky and morally complex antagonists, including [[KosherNostra Bobo Silver]], a soft-spoken but intimidating and flamboyantly-dressed LoanShark, and [[ManipulativeBastard Lucius Reeve]], a mysterious and manipulative blackmailer tracking Theo's movements. As Theo, perpetually traumatized and always deep in his own thoughts, moves between one amoral and dangerous situation after the other, one overlying current defines his life: the stolen painting of a goldfinch that Theo carries with him from the museum where his mother was killed, and his fear of being caught.

* AlternateHistory: While some real world trends and events are alluded to, the catastrophic event that sends Theo on his troubled journey is entirely fictitious and society as a whole is implied to have taken a somewhat different trajectory from that in the real world, due to the absence of certain major events and the presence of others (such as said fictitious catastrophic event).