The Goldfinch

There has been one defining event in early twenty-something Theo Decker's life, it which separates his life into before the event and after the event, and which has directly or indirectly shaped everything important since: a terrorist bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City when Theo was thirteen. Theo and his mother were in the museum at the time, she killed in the explosion while Theo was in a different part of the museum. Theo has blamed himself for her death in he being the reason for their unplanned trip there. With his alcoholic father out of the picture and his whereabouts unknown, Theo went to live temporarily with the upper middle class Barbour family, that of one of his few friends, Andy Barbour, until a more permanent situation could be arranged. Another item specifically tied to that day is that out of circumstance, Theo stole a famous painting, The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius, it since thought to having been destroyed in the explosion. Theo also comes to understand that there were others affected by the bombing, including the Blackwell family, antiques dealer and reburbisher Welty Blackwell also subsequently perishing from the explosion, while his young teen daughter, Pippa Blackwell, was, like Theo, emotionally traumatized and physically injured in the explosion. Theo not only befriends Pippa but also Welty's business partner in Blackwell + Hobart, James Hobart, familiarly referred to as Hobie, and Welty, just before his death, who asked Theo to return something to Hobie for him. Theo's actions are largely dictated by having The Goldfinch in his possession, he not having told anyone of that fact.