Line #32 Literature/TheGoldfinch


1	[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shopping.jpg]]
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3	''The Goldfinch'' is a UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning 2013 novel by {{Creator/Donna Tartt}}, the author of ''Literature/TheSecretHistory''. Like ''The Secret History'', ''The Goldfinch'' is an introspective, confessional neo-romanticist novel that focuses on aesthetic beauty, guilt, and the inner thoughts of the protagonist against a troubled situation filled with strikingly picaresque secondary characters.
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5	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 charming old antiques craftsman 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.
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7	A [[Film/TheGoldfinch film adaptation]] was released in 2019.
8	----
9	!!This work provides examples of:
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11	* AbusiveParents: Theo's father, and Boris' family as well. Theo's father is neglectful and abandons him and his mother. [[spoiler:Boris' father is physically abusive.]]
12	* AffablyEvil: Mr. Silver - despite his profession and threats to Larry's life, he is consistently and sincerely praised by both Larry and Boris for being a great guy.
13	* AlasPoorVillain: Theo manages to feel pity for his father after it's all said and done.
14	* TheAlcoholic: Larry Decker, Boris's father, and Boris himself all have pretty serious drinking problems.
15	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Kitsey is in love with a deadbeat conman. Theo's father, an irresponsible gambler, is in a relationship with Xandra. Boris has a number of conquests to his name. Theo, something of a bad boy himself, also notes that he has no shortage of romantic opportunities.
16	* AlternateHistory: UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror includes the terrorist bombing of the museum but doesn't include the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 still happens in universe though; Theo mentions it when discussing the penalties for art theft.
17	* AmbiguouslyBi: As per usual in Tartt's books. Theo and Boris experiment sexually as teens, and Theo admits to himself that he loves Boris. When they meet again as adults however, Boris is quick to deny that he is anything other than straight, and that he used Theo as a substitute for girls. The truth of this is... debatable.
18	* AmbiguouslyGay: Theo and Boris wonder if Hobie is gay, since he seems to have no love life. Theo isn't sure whether Hobie is discreetly involved with a woman or just very close friends.
19	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Well, adoptive sibling. Toddy and Kitsey both have some of this while Theo is living with the Barbour's.
20	* AnxietyDreams: A near-constant problem for Theo.
21	* TheArtfulDodger: Boris to a "T." Upon meeting him, Hobie, who has heard about him from Theo, admits that he had literally been picturing him as the TropeNamer from Dickens' ''Literature/OliverTwist''.
22	* TheBeautifulElite: The Barbours are a wealthy, elite and beautiful family.
23	* BigApplesauce: Most of the action takes place in Manhattan. Theo writes that until age 13 he had only been outside of New York City for 8 days.
24	* BritishTeeth: Theo notes that Boris, who has lived all around the world, has grey, crooked and "un-American" teeth. In adulthood, Boris has received a new set of pearly white, very American choppers.
25	* BrokenBird: Theo and Pippa. In Theo's case, it leads to his becoming more introspective and focused on beauty, but also - not unrelatedly- more likely to find himself in harm's way.
26	* TheCameo: [[spoiler: Francis Abernathy from ''Literature/TheSecretHistory''.]]
27	* CharacterFilibuster: Hobie has a huge one about art in the last chapter after Theo confesses his secrets.
28	* CondescendingCompassion: Toddy, after the Barbours reconnect with Theo. He mentions how Theo living with them for a while inspired him to try and help out "disadvantaged" children.
29	* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: Part of Boris' appeal to both Theo and the reader - he pays little attention to teachers in school, filling his homework assignments with snarky quips. He later shows more interest in pursuing gratification in the criminal underworld than pursuing any socially accepted or legally legitimate goals.
30	* CutHimselfShaving: Boris has become an expert at inventing cover stories for the bruises his father leaves on him.
31	* DeadlyRoadTrip: There is a section of the book involving a trip to Amsterdam [[spoiler:where Martin tries to kill Theo and Boris, and is killed himself instead.]]
32	* DeathIsSuchAnOddThing: Theo's reaction to the death of his mother.
33	* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: Theo's social workers in New York after his mother's death are distant and incompetent.
34	* DespairEventHorizon: Crossed by Theo's father after he is unsuccessful in obtaining Theo's educational fund to pay off his debts.
35	* DiedHappilyEverAfter: Heavily implied with Theo's mother, in his vision of her in the mirror.
36	* DiscoDan: Larry Decker is a subtle example. He still affects the manner of a SunshineNoir style 80s playboy and ignores the decay around him in the doomed pursuit of a big-shot lifestyle that no longer has a place in the 21st century.
37	* DoorStopper: At over 800 pages, it definitely counts as this.
38	* 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 Series/AfterschoolSpecial-style tailspin of self-destruction, it still has a deleterious effect on their lives. In adulthood each is a different variant of FunctionalAddict - Theo is reliant on pharmaceutical opiates to manage his PTSD, and Boris by his own admission has been an alcoholic since the age of thirteen.
39	* EmotionlessGirl: Mrs Barbour is an adult example. She never seems to express any emotion and always has a detached and proper demeanor. However, she becomes more emotional after her husband dies.
40	* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Kitsey is admired as extremely beautiful and has platinum blonde hair.
41	* EvilDebtCollector: Mr. Silver, who goes so far as to communicate threats to Larry through teenage Theo.
42	* FauxAffablyEvil: Lucius Reeve gives the impression (sometimes) of being affable but it is very clearly all on the surface.
43	* FigureItOutYourself: A rare TearJerker example when the protagonist finally reunites with his beloved deceased mother in a dream:
44	-->And I knew that she could tell me anything I wanted to know (life, death, past, future) even though it was already there, in her smile, the answer to all questions, the before-Christmas smile of someone with a secret too wonderful to let slip, just yet: well, you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?
45	* FinancialAbuse: Attempted when Theo's The Gambling Addict father Larry demands that he call the lawyer overseeing the trust fund that his late mother left him and asking for $65,000. The lawyer not only reveals that his father has been trying to get access to the money, but fortunately, that his mother decreed that the money not only be used solely for his education, but it be paid to the school directly
46	* FirstGirlWins: Played with. Theo falls instantly in love with Pippa at the age of 13, but they never get romantically linked. [[spoiler:In the end, we don't learn whether he'll end up with her]].
47	* FishOutOfWater: Theo attends an early college program for high school students, but due to his unusual life situations and untamed personality barely earns his degree and shows nowhere near the level of interest or ambition as his classmates.
48	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Andy Barbour hates coming along on his father's sailing trips. [[spoiler:Guess how he dies. Lampshaded when, after his death, Theo sees a photograph of Andy and his father standing by a boat model under unlit lamps and a clock showing five to twelve, and realises how intensely foreboding it looks.]]
49	* FreakOut: Theo's sense of guilt and fear of being caught clash with his fondness for the stolen painting
50	* FreudianExcuse: The story follows Theo through his youth with all its nasty events (the terrorist attack, his mom's death, his separation from people he loves like Hobie and Boris, his father's attempt at robbing him [[spoiler:and death]], and the death of [[spoiler:Andy]]), which makes the reader more predisposed to feel sorry for him when he grows up to do quite a few bad or shady things (drug addiction, selling forgeries, stalking Pippa even though she is in a relationship with someone else).
51	* FunctionalAddict: Theo as an adult has a pill addiction, but still manages to keep his life together, or at least look like he does.
52	* TheGamblingAddict: Theo's father fancies himself a big-shot gambler, but he's heavily in debt and convinced that his next shot will take him all the way.
53	* GenerationXerox: Both Larry and Theo get mixed up in crime, have massive substance abuse problems, cheat on their partners (Theo cheats emotionally) and both go through life with a broken moral compass.
54	* GentleGiant: Hobie is frequently described as a giant of a man. He has a sedate, kind and almost meek personality, preferring quiet meals with close friends and working in his shop.
55	* GreenEyedMonster:
56	** Theo is intensely jealous of Pippa's boyfriend.
57	** A teenage Theo bitterly resents that Boris, with whom he has been inseparable and even had sex with, takes up with Kotku.
58	* {{Jerkass}}: Theo's father abandons his wife and son without paying any kind of alimony. He also steals his wife's precious heirloom (a pair of emerald earrings) and gives them to his mistress. Later, he neglects his son and attempts multiple times to steal money from a fund reserved for his education, and threatens him when he hesitates.
59	* HeroicBSOD: Theo at several points in the story, especially in Amsterdam.
60	* HopelessSuitor: Theo is hopelessly in love with Pippa, but she doesn't give him the slightest bit of encouragement. In the end it's revealed that [[spoiler:she does love him, but thinks that a relationship between them could be disastrous. It's left open whether they do decide to get together]].
61	* InformedAttractiveness:
62	** Theo spends some time talking about how attractive his parents were.
63	** Kitsey is described as flawlessly beautiful by several characters.
64	** Pippa is described as pretty, but not as classically attractive as Kitsey
65	* KarmaHoudini: Theo stole the painting as a child, and as an adult he is involved in an elaborate forgery scheme that could [[UngratefulBastard 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 for 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.]]
66	* KosherNostra: Theo's father owes money to a Jewish loan shark who dresses like a cowboy.
67	* LeftHanging: The identity and motivations of the group who destroyed the museum are never revealed, and numerous potential plot threads and background details alluded to by Lucius Reeve are left in the dark.
68	* LonelyRichKid: Andy Barbour is very much this - the Barbours are obviously very rich and Andy doesn't really have friends other than Theo.
69	* LovableRogue: Boris all the way.
70	* LoveAtFirstSight: Theo for Pippa.
71	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Subverted by Pippa, who is quirky and just as damaged as Theo. He's hopelessly in love with her, and a relationship with her just might finally make Theo happy, but she's hardly ever around and never becomes romantically involved in him, [[spoiler:though the future remains open]].
72	* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:Theo and Pippa.]]
73	* MyNaymeIs: It's "Xandra," not "Sandra." [[spoiler:Theo finally discovers that her legal name is actually still Sandra.]]
74	** Inverted with Boris: as a Ukrainian, his name should technically be transliterated "Borys," but he explains that he goes with the Russian transliteration with an I, as being more familiar in the USA.
75	* MysteriousPast: It's never made explicitly clear what Boris' family's background involves (other than them being laborers), but it may or may not be savory.
76	* NoEnding: In the end, the painting issue is resolved and Theo talks about the lessons he's learned about life, love and beauty, but most other plotlines are unresolved: [[spoiler:Does he end up with Kitsey or Pippa? Does he manage to smooth over the issue with the chimeras and Lucius Reeve?]]
77	* NowOrNeverKiss: [[spoiler: Boris]] and Theo right before the latter returns to New York.
78	* OccidentalOtaku: Reclusive young Andy Barbour's hobbies consist mostly of reading manga, which is stated as the reason he wants to learn Japanese.
79	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Theo refers to Boris' girlfriend by Boris' nickname for her, Kotku, because at the time of writing he can't remember her real name.
80	* ParentalFavoritism: The Barbours each have a favorite child of their four.
81	* PlotTriggeringDeath: Two for the price of one with Audrey Decker and Welty Blackwell in the opening chapter.
82	* 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 some of these bad things, later good things would never have happened.]]
83	* RomanticFalseLead: Both Theo and Pippa become involved with "safe" romantic partners, but Theo is in love with Pippa and the story suggests he may also have feelings for Boris. [[spoiler:Theo's fiancée is also in love with someone else. Whether they'll all choose a safe life of comfort or a passionate and risky life is left unresolved]].
84	* RuleOfSymbolism: At the engagement party, Theo's fiancée Kitsey wears white (and is compared to a snowflake by Boris), whereas Pippa, the woman he really loves, is in warm colours (green dress and red hair).
85	* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sensitive Theo to the more impulsive and assertive Boris.
86	* ShoutOut:
87	** Theo drops the names of a wide range of shows, books, authors, and films that he enjoys.
88	** Boris refers to Theo by the affectionate nickname "[[Franchise/HarryPotter Potter]]", because of his apparent similarity to a certain teen wizard.
89	** ''The Goldfinch'' is a real painting and takes a central role in the plot.
90	** At one of Hobie's dinners and at Theo's engagement party to Kitsey, one of the guests is Francis Abernathy from Tartt's previous book ''Literature/TheSecretHistory''.
91	* SmokingIsCool: Boris exemplifies this trope.
92	* StalkerWithACrush: Theo is this for Pippa, going as far as to keep a few strands of her hair that he found in the shower. He yearns to know everything about her life, and sees his relationship with Pippa in a way that is divorced with reality. The book lampshades this, and so does Theo in his rare moments of lucidity regarding his behaviour.
93	* StepfordSmiler: Kitsey, of the depressed variety. Behind the appealing, enthusiastic facade is a deeply unhappy young woman who blames herself for [[spoiler: the deaths of her father and brother.]]
94	* SurvivorGuilt: One of the things that connect Theo and Pippa is the fact that they both lost a parental figure (Theo his mother, Pippa Welty) to the bombing after convincing them to come along to the museum, while they themselves survived.
95	* TimeSkip: After following Theo's life very closely from the ages of 13-16, then the story jumps about eight years.
96	* TookALevelInKindness: Platt after the time skip.
97	* ToxicFriendInfluence: Played with. Boris leads Theo into a number of self destructive lifestyle habits and eventually a potentially fatal situation, but is also the one person who genuinely treats Theo the best in the entire book.
98	* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Theo comes to closely resemble his hated crook of a father in looks and behaviour, but he ends the story a fundamentally better man.
99	* TraumaCongaLine: Theo, so very much.
100	* TroubledButCute: Theo, among other characters.
101	* TwoDecadesBehind: The description of Theo's father Larry recalls '70s and '80s actors typecast in "bad boy" roles, such as [[Series/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.
102	* TheUnfavorite: Andy Barbour is the odd man out in his family. Interestingly, his mother claims he is her favorite [[spoiler: after his death.]]
103	* VivaLasVegas: Theo's father Larry moved to UsefulNotes/LasVegas after his divorce to become a professional gambler. He lives in a derelict [=McMansion=] and is heavily in debt to local thugs.
104	* WesternTerrorists: an attack by unnamed violent right-wing extremists is the impetus for the rest of the events in the novel. We never do find out much about who they are or what they want.
105	* WhiteGuilt: Theo briefly muses that his slot at an early college high school program, which he does not seriously invest time or thought in, would be better suited for a lower-income minority student more intelligent or talented than he is.
106	* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Boris makes this excuse to Theo after Boris's girlfriend comes to school with a fat lip.
107	* WouldHitAGirl: Boris hits his high school girlfriend, giving her a fat lip. Amazingly, he remains somewhat sympathetic, though he's always a rather unsavory character.

Context Literature / TheGoldfinch