The Goldfinch: Part 3, Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Theo wakes up feeling like he is in a “different universe.” Theo looks in the mirror and is horrified by his reflection; he has a bruised jaw, blotchy face, and puffy eyes. He can hear the sound of public radio coming from the kitchen, which brings him comfort. Hobie hands Theo breakfast and tea, which Theo promptly spills. Theo apologizes and begs Hobie not to “make [him] go.” Hobie tells him not to be silly, and when he sees Theo staring at the place where Cosmo’s basket used to be, he mentions that Cosmo died recently. Hobie asks if Theo has spoken to his grandfather, and Theo explains that his grandfather and step-grandmother hated Larry and didn’t seem upset about this death.

Just as Theo asks if Hobie will talk to Bracegirdle, Pippa comes in. Theo is “dazzled” by her, and can barely understand her excited chatter about dogs. Seeing Theo unable to speak and looking so unwell, Hobie sends him back to bed, promising to bring oatmeal. He assures Theo that he can stay “as long as however [he] like[s],” and says he will call Bracegirdle. Theo falls asleep and wakes to Pippa entering the room to take Popper out. She offers him some colored pencils to draw with, which baffles Theo. After she leaves, Theo gets a text from Boris saying he is at the pool at the MGM Grand. He has been doing the cocaine they stole from Xandra with the popular girls from school. Theo tells Boris to call him later. Boris never replies.

Theo spends the next few days in a delirious fever. Hobie regularly brings him aspirin and ginger ale. At one point Pippa comes in and gives Theo an origami frog she’s made. She takes his iPod and looks through the music, which Theo got from Audrey, announcing her approval. She remarks on the lack of classical music, and says she’s “been listening to a lot of Arvo Pärt lately.” Theo is practically unable to say anything to her at all, and she asks why he is he is staring at her. He wonders if Pippa suffers from the same traumatic nightmares, flashbacks, and anxieties as him. He thinks she can tell by her wild laugh that she does.

On Monday morning Theo calls Bracegirdle and tells him what happened to Larry. Bracegirdle is horrified, and admits he had been a little misleading about the money in Theo’s account because it had seemed suspicious. It would be possible to withdraw money from the 529, although with a “large tax penalty.” He notes that there is a little less than $65,000 in it, though. Bracegirdle explains that he knew the “last thing” Audrey would have wanted was for Larry to have Theo’s money. When Theo gets off the phone, he goes to his room and cries.

Theo dreams that Larry is scolding him for messing up a travel reservation. He is awakened by Pippa coming into his room and announcing that she is leaving. Seeing Theo’s look of confusion, Pippa reminds him that she is in boarding school, and that she only came to see a doctor in New York. She notes that Theo slept through the Thanksgiving celebration at Hobie’s. Theo asks which boarding school she attends, and is shocked to hear her say the name of a Swiss school which has the reputation of being populated by “only the every dumbest and most disturbed girls.” Pippa herself comments that it’s a “school for loonies.” She says she lives with the French-speaking girls, who don’t talk to her.

Hobie comes into the doorway and tells Pippa that they have to leave. Pippa says she might come back during the spring vacation. When they go, Theo rushes into the window to get one last glimpse of her. He then walks through to Pippa’s bedroom, and is delighted to find it exactly the same as before.  

When Theo and Hobie meet with Bracegirdle, he observes how much Theo has come to resemble Audrey. Theo knows that in reality he looks much more like Larry. During the conversation, Theo realizes that Audrey and Bracegirdle must have been very close. Bracegirdle tells him that he expects there will be no problem with Theo continuing to stay with Hobie. He adds that Theo won’t need to go back to school until next term and that he personally thinks it would be best for Theo to go to boarding school. He offers to make a call to a friend at a school called Buckfield in order to get Theo a place. Theo stays silent, hoping this suggestion will disappear. 

Theo applies to an early-college program in Manhattan, hoping that if he gets accepted this will allow him to keep living with Hobie. He studies intensely, to the point that it feels almost like a form of self-harm. However, he is happy to be distracted by studying. He is tortured by thoughts of what would happen if he gave The Goldfinch to Hobie, imagining every possible outcome from Hobie fixing the whole situation to him calling the police on Theo. Yet even more distressing than this are Theo’s thoughts about Larry. He worries that Larry might have thought that Theo intentionally withheld the money from him.

The living stipend that Bracegirdle has arranged for Theo helps him feel less guilty about staying at Hobie’s. It also allows him to pay for his dental bills, Popper’s vet bills, and to buy himself winter clothes, a phone, and a laptop. Theo finds Hobie’s house much more comfortable and cozy than the Barbours’, which always had an atmosphere like a stiff rehearsal. Hobie conducts his life in an old-fashioned way, eschewing a TV and cell phone in favor of novels and trips to the movie theater. He only opens the shop occasionally, and when he does it is usually only his friends who come by.

Pippa texts Theo and they joke about how Hobie only likes to go to old, empty restaurants, which he patronizes out of worry that otherwise they will close. Dinner is the central part of Hobie’s day, and Theo loves how elaborate it always is with him. He enjoys eating with the friends who come over for Sunday lunch, although he sometimes worries that one of them will know the Barbours and alert the family to Theo’s presence. Theo still hasn’t told Andy that he is back in the city. The guests often discuss Welty, who Theo learns was outgoing and charismatic, with an impressive ability to make people trust him. One guest observes that Welty knew that by giving Theo his ring, he was deliberately sending him to Hobie.  

Theo is terrified that Hobie will find The Goldfinch. After Pippa texts him that Hobie will only come into his room to dust and change the sheets, Theo starts dusting obsessively. Theo only leaves the house if it is to accompany Hobie to an auction or gallery; the rest of his time is devoted to studying at home. He always feels a little thrill when people assume that Hobie is his dad. Theo sometimes wonders sadly why Audrey hadn’t married someone like Hobie or Bracegirdle instead of Larry, someone who shared her interests and would have treated her with kindness and generosity.

Theo takes his exams in January and comes away unsure about how well he performed. He tries to prepare himself for the possibility of not getting into the early-college program. Although he has tried to suggest going to a high school in New York, Bracegirdle is adamant that boarding school would be best for him, and that Audrey would want him to have a “fresh start.” Leaving the exam, Theo passes a newsstand with a headline noting that a raid in the Bronx has unearthed “millions in stolen art.” Having bought the newspaper, Theo reads that the police were tipped off to the home in the Bronx where they found three paintings, including a Rembrandt, which had been missing from the Met since the attack. 

Still reading, Theo learns that the paintings had been stolen by a paramedic who had been treating victims after the explosion. The house where they were found belonged to the mother-in-law of the paramedic; the two of them, along with the paramedic’s brother, face “combined sentences of up to twenty years.” The final paragraph of the article notes that the discovery has sparked hope that other works missing from the Met may be found. It explains that usually stolen artworks are quickly taken out of the country, but this incident suggests that “these missing pictures may be here in the city right under our noses.” Reading this, Theo feels nauseous. He is even more disturbed to see that the same story appears in every newspaper.

Later that night, Hobie brings up the case at dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Amstiss, remarking how horrifying it is that someone would take advantage of a violent tragedy in order to steal artwork. That night, Theo is too distressed about The Goldfinch to sleep. He reads more articles about the recovered paintings online. He thinks about the fact that the paramedic’s mother had claimed that she had no idea the paintings were in her house, and was still being tried. As an antiques dealer, Hobie would be given even less of the benefit of the doubt. Theo takes two of the pills he stole from Xandra, and tries to console himself with the detail that stolen paintings tend to be impossible to find unless someone tries to sell or move them.