The Goldfinch: Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Despite Hobie’s size, he moves gracefully, leading Theo past many rows of spectacular objects. Going through the shop and into an apartment, Theo recognizes the absolute stillness of the room as the atmosphere produced by a recent death. Suddenly, he regrets coming. Hobie asks if Theo is alright, and apologizes for the mess. Theo introduces himself, saying he lives “uptown.” Hobie replies that his full name is James Hobart, but everyone calls him Hobie. He explains that Welty “was [his] business partner,” and Theo is struck by his use of the past tense. He’d optimistically imagined that, despite Welty’s injuries, he’d be able to see him again.

Hobie asks how Theo got the ring, and Theo hesitantly explains that Welty spoke to him before he died. Hobie says he’s glad there was someone with Welty as he was dying, mentioning that his body was in a horrific state. Hobie mentions Civil War photography, and then war in general. Feeling shy, Theo tries to recount his conversation with Welty, but finds that it is “like trying to explain a dream.” Hobie is shocked by the news that Welty spoke to Theo, because he’d been told Welty died instantly. Theo realizes that he was told the same thing about Audrey.

Theo asks about the girl he saw, and although Hobie says she is not “okay,” he confirms that she is alive. Hobie tells Theo she is not supposed to see any visitors yet. He lights a cigarette and asks Theo if he’s the boy whose mother died in the attack. To Theo’s surprise, he begins to cry. Hobie apologizes and asks if Theo is hungry; when Theo says he isn’t, Hobie says he understands but asks Theo to “humor” him. As they walk through the apartment, Theo sees a picture of a younger Welty next to someone who looks like the redhaired girl. Hobie explains that it’s the girl’s mother, who died of cancer six years before. Welty was the uncle of the girl, Pippa.

They walk past Pippa’s room, but Hobie doesn’t let Theo go inside. He explains that Pippa has a dog in there, even though her nurse opposes it. Her skull was fractured and leg broken in the explosion, and she was in a coma for a while. Hobie notes that the investigators told him it is common for crowds of people to be physically affected in very different ways from bomb attacks. Theo asks how Pippa got out, and Hobie explains that she’d been trapped under a pile of debris and was found by a sniffer dog.

Hobie serves Theo something on toast which he can’t identify, but finds delicious. It reminds him of something Audrey used to make. Hobie asks Theo what his interests are, and which subjects he likes in school. Theo realizes it is “the most enjoyable conversation [he’s] had in a while,” as Hobie is speaking to him like a normal kid. Theo mentions that Larry used to tease him for liking Edgar Allen Poe, then adds that Larry was an actor, although he was never particularly successful. Theo explains that Larry abandoned them, noting that he had a drinking problem. It is the first time Theo has spoken about this since Audrey’s death.

Hobie mentions that he knows of Mrs. Barbour, although he has not met her personally. He says she has a “good eye” and an impressive collection of antiques. Theo is shocked that Hobie knows he is staying at the Barbours’, and Hobie explains that it was in an article in the New York Times about children whose parents died in the attack. Apparently, the article noted that Theo defended Andy from school bullies, which Theo points out is not really true. Theo asks if Hobie is going to reopen the shop, but Hobie explains that Welty ran the business side of things, and there’s too much information he doesn’t know. 

Andy texts Theo to check if he’s ok, but Theo ignores it. Hobie mentions how moved he is by the return of Welty’s ring, and then notices that Theo has been staring at a wooden Noah’s Ark sitting nearby. He explains it was one of the first antiques he ever bought. Theo asks if he can see Pippa and Hobie agrees, though explains she’s still “a bit muddled” and that it would be best if Theo didn’t mention Welty.

Pippa’s room is very dark, but she won’t let Hobie open the curtain because it will hurt her eyes. Her head is shaved, and staples are visible by her hairline. When Theo introduces himself, she asks what his favorite piece of music is. He says Beethoven, and she replies that he looks like someone who likes Beethoven. They both confess that ever since the explosion, they both suffer from random bouts of exhaustion during the day. Theo notices that Hobie has left the room, and—to his own surprise—he takes Pippa’s hand. Apologizing, she says she has to close her eyes for a second.

Theo leaves the room, and Hobie explains that ever since the explosion, Pippa can be stiff and formal with people she knows well and very friendly and open with strangers. Apparently this is a common consequence of head injuries like hers. He explains that listening to music makes her distressed, as it makes her think she needs to practice. In reality, her chance of having a professional performance career is over. Pippa’s nurse rings the bell, and when Theo asks if he can come back to visit Pippa, Hobie pleads that he does so.

Mr. Barbour is taking the children to dinner at the Yacht Club without Mrs. Barbour, who is busy. Andy asks about Theo’s day, and Theo replies that it was “a little weird,” but that he’s happy he went. Andy tells Theo he’s sorry about how “fucked up” everything is, and recalls his fondness of Audrey. Audrey liked Andy, too, to a point that sometimes made Theo jealous. Theo says he’s hungry, and Andy sarcastically comments that he thought Theo had been starving himself to fit into his prom dress. Mr. Barbour accidentally overhears Theo say “fuck you,” but simply says he’s glad that Theo seems to be feeling better. In the coming days, the whole Barbour family notices that Theo’s appetite has returned.

Theo goes to see Dave and, as usual, struggles to answer the basic question he poses about how he is doing. He has been given medication but doesn’t like that it makes him feel “tired and headachy,” so he has been spitting it out. Now, however, he says that the medication has been helping a little. Dave suggests that Theo seems to be feeling better, but Theo doesn’t feel like “better” is the right word to describe his state. He feels hugely sensitive to the world around him, the good and the bad. Going to see Hobie and Pippa was the most “resonant and real-seeming thing” that has happened to Theo lately, but Andy is the only person he’s told about it.

Dave says that the adults around Theo have told him that Theo’s undergone an “upswing” lately. He asks Theo if he can explain it, but Theo just shrugs. A few days later, Theo asks Andy to “cover” for him while he goes downtown to Hobie’s again. Andy agrees to tell Mrs. Barbour that Theo is at the library. When Theo arrives at Hobie’s, he is surprised to find Hobie wearing a suit. Pippa’s dog Cosmo is in the kitchen rather than in Pippa’s room, and Hobie explains this is because Pippa’s aunt Margaret does not like having him around. He tells Theo that Margaret is taking Pippa to Texas the day after next. Pippa is going to live there, although Hobie assures Theo she’ll come back to New York to visit.

Theo is crushed. Hobie is clearly pretending to think that moving is the right thing for Pippa, when really he does not believe it is. He says that Cosmo is staying in New York. He also explains that Margaret and Welty had not been on speaking terms because “Margaret was quite against Pippa’s mother.” At this point Margaret enters the room and introduces herself using her full name, Margaret Blackwell Pierce. She says she is happy to meet Theo and especially grateful that he returned her grandfather’s ring, which she claims was “lost.” Shocked, Theo asks to go and see Pippa.  

When Theo comes into her room, Pippa requests that he turn off the light and then offers an earbud so they can listen to her iPod together. He notices that she’s been crying, and she explains that she doesn’t want to leave. They talk about the fact that both their mothers are dead, though Theo does not mention that Audrey was killed in explosion at the Met. They hold hands. Theo says that he’s going to have to leave soon too, to go and live with his grandparents. Pippa says that she has to go with Margaret because Hobie is not her “real uncle,” and Theo replies that he wishes Hobie was so that she could stay. His heart hammers.

Theo asks if Pippa remembers seeing him in the Met before the explosion, and she says she doesn’t. They kiss, and Theo thinks the strange taste is from a morphine lollipop Pippa had been sucking. When Theo says goodbye, he feels reassured by Hobie’s hand on his shoulder in a way he hasn’t experienced since Audrey’s death. Margaret notices that he is crying, and urges him to come and visit, boasting that she lives in “one of the biggest Tudor houses in Texas.”

When Theo meets up with Andy again, Andy declares Texas “boring.” He lists the things Pippa might do there, and Theo wonders how anyone can have such a robotic manner. Back at the Barbours’, Theo feels horrifically lonely. Andy complains about the upcoming sailing trip to Maine, but Theo points out his fate of going to his grandparents’ in Maryland isn’t much better. Andy suggests that Theo work as hard as possible at his new school so he can graduate early and escape to college with a scholarship. He points out that Theo is smart and that adults like him (although Theo himself believes this is only because his mother is dead).

A week after Pippa leaves, Theo goes back down to see Hobie, who serves him a dessert that looks disgusting but tastes delicious. Hobie tells Theo that Pippa cried for hours after they spoke on the phone, and that he wishes he “knew how to make things better.” Margaret has said that she doesn’t think it’s a good idea of him to visit Pippa until she’s settled down. Theo asks why Pippa didn’t know Margaret until now, and Welty explains that Pippa’s grandfather, Mr. Blackwell, had three children with different mothers: Welty, Margaret, and Pippa’s mother, Juliet. When Welty got tuberculosis as a child, an unsympathetic Mr. Blackwell sent him away from Egypt to live in America with relatives.

Then, due to the political situation in Egypt, the rest of the Blackwell family had to leave. Mr. Blackwell married a wealthy Texan woman (Margaret’s mother) and lived a luxurious lifestyle in Houston. He continued to have affairs, and in his late 60s had his third child, Juliet, with his hairdresser. At this point Margaret, already an undergraduate at Vassar, stopped speaking to her father. Mr. Blackwell grew to hate Juliet’s mother and wanted to leave nothing for her or Juliet in his will, but Welty intervened because he was worried about Juliet, a neglected child whom nobody wanted. He brought Juliet to this house Hobie and Theo are currently sitting in when she was six and acted as her parent for the rest of her life.

Hobie then takes Theo to see his workshop, which is packed with different kinds of furniture. He asks if Theo likes “old things,” and Theo, nodding, acknowledges this fact about himself for the first time. Theo explains that while the Barbours’ apartment is filled with beautiful objects, it is cold and austere, like a museum. Hobie’s workshop has a more comfortable, inviting atmosphere. Having noted that Theo has “a good eye for furniture,” Hobie asks if he would like to help out in the workshop, and Theo says yes.

Dave is always telling Theo to get a hobby, which Theo finds a ridiculous form of advice for coping with mourning. In fact, most of the adults in Theo’s life seem to believe that he should take up a hobby. The school counselor insists that it’s important Theo find an activity that connects him to other people and the world, and Theo finds this annoying. Yet it turns out that Theo does inadvertently take up a hobby, in the form of helping out at Hobie’s workshop. He learns the intricacies of antique furniture, including how to distinguish authentic details from fabrications. He learns that fakes tend to have a “flat, dead quality,” without the special “glow” that comes from having been touched by humans over many years.

Although Theo loves the antiques and working in the workshop, his favorite thing about being there is spending time with Hobie. Hobie understands Theo better than the many adults whose job it is to “get inside [Theo’s] head.” Hobie treats Theo as an equal whom he actually enjoys talking to, and Theo loves hearing stories about Hobie’s own childhood. Hobie’s mother also died when he was young, and his father beat him. Spending time with Hobie is a total change from life at the Barbours’, where Theo is treated kindly, but distantly. It brings him comfort to know that Hobie is always only “a bus ride away.” 

Yet Andy is struggling to keep explaining Theo’s absences, and he suggests that they tell Mrs. Barbour the truth. Theo isn’t sure, as he’s worried she will find out that he falsely claimed Welty’s ring was a family heirloom. However, on a whim he tells Mrs. Barbour that he’s been downtown visiting an old friend of Audrey’s called James Hobart. He says that Hobie would like to meet Mrs. Barbour and suggested they all go out to lunch. Mrs. Barbour responds vaguely; she is distracted by the fact that Platt, who has just come home, is in trouble at boarding school. Andy suggests that they go to a restaurant and grab a hamburger for dinner to avoid the family drama, and Kitsey begs to come along, too.

Wanting to support Andy, Theo doesn’t go to Hobie’s, although the atmosphere at the Barbours’ is horrible. Neither Andy nor Theo know what Platt has done, but it’s clear that it’s bad. Andy comments that Platt is Mrs. Barbour’s favorite, whereas Kitsey is Mr. Barbour’s favorite. Andy admits that if he didn’t look so much like his mother he would assume he’d “been switched at birth.”

During this period, Theo considers telling Hobie about The Goldfinch, which is still in his and Audrey’s apartment. Theo has already gone so long without mentioning it to anyone that he worries it is simply too late now. He cannot return it to the Met anonymously, because ever since the explosion any unmarked package would be immediately destroyed. Although he knows there are mitigating circumstances that mean he is not fully blameworthy for the theft, he also feels vulnerable in his “homeless limbo,” and is thus reluctant to confess. Then, one day, Theo comes across a part of the newspaper where he finds an article about art and the insurance industry. It includes a photo of The Goldfinch with a caption listing it as “destroyed.” 

Theo quickly scans the piece, trying to look for other mentions of The Goldfinch. However, at this moment Mr. Barbour enters and asks if Theo would like to join the family in Maine that summer. Thrilled, Theo immediately says yes. Although Andy remains staunchly opposed to the sailing part of the trip, he is clearly also excited that Theo is coming, too. Theo is overjoyed both by the news about Maine and the fact that The Goldfinch is thought to be destroyed, which gives him more time to decide whether to confess. He is still “naïve” enough to believe that he could have sold it if he needed to. 

Hobie tells Theo that his father owned a trucking company and believed that Hobie was spoiled by “too much education.” He stopped paying Hobie’s tuition after his second year of college, then made Hobie work for him for free in order to pay him back for the first two years. Welty was a customer of the trucking company, and after witnessing Hobie’s father cruelly berate Hobie one day, Welty asked to hire Hobie himself. After spending a day together packing up a mansion, Welty offered Hobie a permanent job at his new business in New York, which Hobie accepted. 

Hobie explained that he learned about antiques just by watching others who worked in the business. Welty preferred the business side of things to restoration work. Hobie’s father never paid him any of the money he earned, and Hobie never went back to college, but it didn’t matter because he’d discovered his calling. Hobie suggests that maybe Theo will find his calling on the sailing trip. However, Theo himself is more focused on the signs indicating that the Barbours might be interested in adopting him. Andy recently told him that Mr. and Mrs. Barbour believe Theo is a positive influence on Andy, and that they might announce in Maine that they want to “keep” him.

Theo takes the bus back uptown. When he gets to the Barbours’, he is stunned to see his father, Larry, waiting for him with Mrs. Barbour. Larry looks tan, and is accompanied by another very tan woman with dyed hair and gold jewelry, who introduces herself as “Xandra with an X.” Shocked, Theo stares at her tattooed toe, French tip nails, and starfish-shaped earrings. By this point Mrs. Barbour has disappeared, and Larry tells Theo that he is now living in Las Vegas, and that he and Xandra have come to “get” Theo. Xandra says that Larry is 51 days sober. Looking at him, Theo isn’t sure if he believes this.

Larry says that they need the key to Theo and Audrey’s apartment to sort through the “mess” there. Theo suddenly remembers a fight Larry and Audrey had over some earrings of Audrey’s that had gone missing. Larry blamed Audrey for leaving things a “mess,” then became furious when he thought she was implying that he had stolen the earrings. After Larry left the family, Audrey realized that other items, such as her father’s antique coins and a bundle of cash were also gone. Lying, Theo says that he doesn’t have the key, but suggests that if he goes to the apartment with Larry and Xandra one of the doormen might let them in. Larry reluctantly agrees.

Theo is overjoyed to see the doorman, José, again. Theo asks in Spanish if José will let them into the apartment, adding a request that José comes up with them, and José agrees. Xandra, whom Theo has concluded is not particularly smart, chatters away about the journey from Las Vegas on the ride up to the apartment. When they get in, Theo immediately sees the package containing The Goldfinch exactly where he left it. José subtly distracts Larry, giving Theo time to get the painting. Still chatting to José, Xandra mentions that she’s from Florida. Theo picks up the bag and realizes it is empty. He briefly panics, but then remembers that the bag had been wet and that he’d put the painting on Audrey’s bureau.

Theo is overwhelmed by the faint smell of Audrey in her bedroom, along with framed photographs and scraps of her handwriting. He manages to retrieve The Goldfinch and bring it to his bedroom, but at this moment Larry comes in, and Theo hastily throws a towel over the painting. Larry tells Theo not to bring a lot of stuff to Las Vegas, explaining that Theo won’t need warm clothing, although he should perhaps pack “ski stuff.” He then begins talking about how Audrey was difficult to live with, how she could be cold and uncommunicative. Theo actually agrees, but doesn’t want his father to know this. Larry says that he left because he had to withdraw money from their joint bank account and Audrey “flipped her lid.”

Larry continues to gripe about Audrey, while Theo remains silent. Eventually Xandra joins them in Theo’s bedroom and leads Larry away to “show [him] something.” Suddenly, Theo feels emotionally overwhelmed by all the things in the apartment, reminders of Audrey and the life they shared. He gets out his suitcase and fills it with clothes, placing The Goldfinch on top. Calling out to Larry, he announces that he is going back downstairs to talk to José, and Larry says alright in a somewhat stiff, strained voice. Down in the lobby, Theo runs into Goldie, who embraces him in a hug and offers heartfelt condolences. Goldie wipes tears from his eyes, telling Theo how devastated he was to learn of Audrey’s death.

José joins the conversation, sharing his own fond memories of Audrey, who was kinder than the other, “snobby” residents of the building. Theo asks if he can leave the bag containing The Goldfinch with José, promising that he will be back to pick it up and asking José not to give it to anyone else. José agrees. He then assures Theo that he and the other doormen haven’t said anything to the men who’ve been coming around asking about Larry. Theo is surprised by this, and doesn’t know who these men might be.

Then, to Theo’s even greater surprise, Goldie hands him a “giant wad of cash.” He tells a story about how Audrey once paid for a computer that he’d ordered for his son—a story Theo doesn’t quite believe. He wonders if the doormen have raised money for him out of pity. Due to his state of shock, Theo accepts it without asking any questions. José and Goldie advise him not to tell anyone about it and keep it for himself.

That night at a “touristy” restaurant, Larry takes a call from Audrey’s insurance company, which Theo can’t hear because Xandra is talking too loudly. When Larry gets off the phone he orders a bottle of champagne for Xandra and Theo, although the waiter bans Theo from drinking it because he is underage. Xandra sneakily pours Theo some anyway. Larry and Xandra end up discussing Larry’s failed acting career, which “fizzled out” shortly after he and Audrey got married. Larry has always somewhat blamed Audrey for this turn of events. Watching this conversation, Theo begins to feel drunk for the first time in his life. Before he knows what’s happening, Theo realizes he is speaking out loud: “She was so great and why was everybody so horrible to her?”

When Theo gets back to the Barbours’, he can tell from Mr. and Mrs. Barbour’s reactions that they know he is drunk. The next morning, he feels horrifically hungover. Mr. Barbour asks Theo about Larry, trying to keep his tone friendly. Platt mentions that Theo was drunk last night, and Mr. Barbour immediately sends him to his room.

Larry is in a hurry to return to Las Vegas, and only days after he arrives he sends movers to Audrey and Theo’s apartment to pack it up. A used book seller and antiques dealer come over to see what they can sell. As everything is taken away, Theo feels as if it is his life itself that is being erased. Meanwhile, at the Barbours’, Theo packs up his belongings in boxes and addresses them to his new home on “Desert End Road” in Las Vegas. Andy comments that it’s like Theo is moving to “a different planet.” Although the rest of the Barbours don’t say so directly, all of them seem worried about Theo’s upcoming move.

Hobie, meanwhile, suggests that “a change of scenery might be good” for Theo. Hobie asks if Theo is scared of going to live with Larry, and Theo says he isn’t, adding that Larry has stopped drinking. He admits that he doesn’t understand what Larry sees in Xandra, who does not seem “all that nice.” Theo notes that he appreciates that Larry and Xandra have come to get him, because they didn’t have to. Hobie reminds him that he can always call him. When Theo leaves, he thinks that it is the last time he will ever be in Hobie’s house. This assumption is incorrect.