The Goldfinch: Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

When Theo was a little kid, his biggest fear was Audrey not coming home to him. He would imagine horrific things he’d heard about on the news happening to her. The fear was compounded by the fact that his father, Larry, was so unstable, with wildly unpredictable mood swings and a drinking problem. He was irritable with Theo and Audrey, which convinced Theo his bad moods were their fault. In the mornings, Larry would shake while drinking his coffee, and he often wouldn’t come home for long periods of time, particularly on paydays.

Because of these habits, Audrey and Theo were not surprised or concerned when Larry first disappeared. College football season had just begun, and it seemed likely that Larry had gone to Atlantic City to gamble. After three days they began to worry, and soon after they received a strange, brief note from Larry saying that he’d left to “start a new life.” Neither Theo nor Audrey were too sad about this, but it put them a tough position financially, with Audrey struggling to afford their rent-stabilized apartment. Now, Theo imagines Larry hearing about the bomb on the news, and thinks he probably won’t worry about them.

On the walk home, Theo hears people muttering about North Korea, Iran, Iraq, and Al-Qaeda. He worries that Audrey must be sick with worry, and tries to send her a “psychic message” that he is alright. However, when he gets home he is shocked to find the apartment empty. Everything is just as they’d left it that morning. Audrey took Theo’s phone when he was suspended, and he doesn’t know where she’s hidden it. At some point Theo falls asleep on the sofa and wakes up hours later, feeling disoriented, and still alone in the apartment. He checks the landline, where there is a single voicemail from someone in Audrey’s office updating her on a postponed deadline.

Theo calls Audrey’s cell and leaves a worried voicemail. Feeling increasingly panicked, he calls downstairs, hoping to reach one of the friendly doormen. However, the phone is answered by the building’s new maintenance man instead, who doesn’t speak much English and tells Theo to call back later. Theo switches on the news and sees that the bridges to the outer boroughs are all shut down. He sees a helpline for people who are missing someone and plans to ring it in half an hour if Audrey still isn’t back. After an hour, Theo calls.

The woman on the other end of the line tells Theo that Audrey isn’t listed among the dead or injured and asks him to leave his number. Theo sees on the news that 21 people are dead and many more are injured. Terrified, he calls the helpline again, but is again told they don’t have any information. By now it is almost midnight, and Theo realizes his hands are shaking. He eats leftover lo mein from the fridge and then cleans the kitchen, thinking this will please Audrey. On TV, the news declares that the attack was committed by “homegrown” right-wing terrorists, who placed explosives inside the display platforms in the museum shop.

Theo tries to open one of the kitchen drawers, which has been jammed shut for months. He thinks about the fact that Audrey is an only child. His only living grandparents are Larry’s dad and stepmother, who live in Maryland. Theo does not have a good relationship with them. He manages to open the drawer, then wraps himself in a blanket and sits on the sofa, facing the front door. On TV, a curator is being interviewed about the incident, noting how important it is that the pieces inside the museum are rescued before they are damaged by water, chemicals, smoke, or heat.

Suddenly the phone rings. A social worker from the Department of Child and Family Services asks to speak to Theo’s father. She won’t tell Theo if Audrey is alright, and instead insists on speaking to an adult. Theo pleads with her to tell him, but she leaves her contact information and asks that Theo’s father call her back. Theo sits very still. It is almost 3am, and the city will soon start waking up again. He almost decides to go out and look for Audrey himself when the doorbell rings. Theo calls out “Mom?” but when he sees two strangers standing on the doorstep, he realizes “that my life, as I knew it, was over.”