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The Goldfinch
Las Vegas, the city where Theo moves after his father Larry assumes custody of him, represents the opposite of everything the novel values. Whereas other important places such as the Met or Hobie’s workshop are filled with beautiful, historical, authentic objects, Las Vegas is the epitome of newness and fakeness. It is a city filled with replicas of famous cultural monuments (such as the Eiffel Tower and an Egyptian Sphinx), but not ones that are supposed to look authentic. Rather, Las Vegas is a city that revels in its own fakeness. It is also a place with a reputation for hedonism, being notorious for “vices” such as gambling, sex work, and drug and alcohol use. Of course, this ends up having a serious impact on Theo, whose issues with drug and alcohol dependency begin there. Much goes wrong for Theo in Vegas; he drinks and takes drugs to excess, stops caring about his schoolwork, and starts shoplifting. At the same time, he develops the most important friendship of his life (with Boris) and comes to see that even Vegas, despite its seediness and lack of authenticity, has redeeming elements. Indeed, precisely because Vegas is so unlike the world of his youth, the city helps Theo grow up by challenging him to explore another side of himself.
Las Vegas Quotes in The Goldfinch
The The Goldfinch quotes below all refer to the symbol of Las Vegas. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 4, Chapter 10
Quotes
I did know. Because if possible to paint fakes that look like that? Las Vegas would be the most beautiful city in the history of earth! Anyway—so funny! Here I am, so proudly teaching you to steal apples and candy from the magazine, while you have stolen world masterpiece of art.
Related Characters:
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Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Goldfinch LitChart as a printable PDF.
Las Vegas Symbol Timeline in The Goldfinch
The timeline below shows where the symbol Las Vegas appears in The Goldfinch. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 4: Morphine Lollipop
...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...
(full context)
...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...
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...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...
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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...
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Part 2, Chapter 5: Badr al-Dine
The day before Theo is due to move to Las Vegas, he decides to go back to retrieve the bag containing The Goldfinch from his old...
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...protests, Goldie hails him a taxi and wishes him well on the move to Las Vegas. Just as the taxi is about to drive away, José runs out to see Theo...
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Larry is annoyed that Theo is trying to bring two suitcases to Las Vegas, although Mrs. Barbour assures him that it won’t be a problem with the airline. Mrs....
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...ride “high and happy,” falling in and out of sleep. Once they arrive in Las Vegas, even the airport produces a kind of sensory overload. Theo is shocked to see that...
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...to Larry and Xandra’s conversations. He discovers that Larry had been regularly coming to Las Vegas before he left Audrey, and had already been dating Xandra for a year by the...
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...assigned in his Honors English class, and wonders what Thoreau would “have made of Las Vegas.” Lots of students at Theo’s new school are the children of military service members or...
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Boris is the only person in Las Vegas whom Theo tells about the way Audrey died. Boris has an intuitive understanding of Theo’s...
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Part 2, Chapter 6: Wind, Sand and Stars
...the doorbell rings—the only time Theo has ever heard this happen since moving to Las Vegas. Theo answers it to find a tan, thin man standing before him, wearing gold-rimmed sunglasses,...
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...about Larry’s blackout state than the fact that he had been heading west of Las Vegas, into the desert. She is confused and devastated that he seemed to be fleeing without...
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Part 3, Chapter 8: The Shop-Behind-the-Shop, continued
...is working in Hobie’s workshop. He feels totally cut off from his life in Las Vegas, although he thinks about Boris all the time. With Boris, the present was the only...
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Part 4, Chapter 10: The Idiot
Boris says that after Theo left Las Vegas, he didn’t sell any of the cocaine they took from Xandra. He gave some of...
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Part 5, Chapter 12: The Rendezvous Point
...hears that Theo put the painting in his checked luggage when he flew to Las Vegas. Hobie tells Theo that he should have told him and the he would have “figured...
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