Fabrication vs. Authenticity Theme Analysis

Through its examination of highly-valued artworks (such as The Goldfinch) and depiction of Hobie’s antique restoration business, the novel explores the question of why and how authenticity is valued over fabrication. Of all the characters, Hobie is the most dedicated to the importance of authenticity. Theo at first has a more relaxed attitude toward the issue of fabrication; yet after this gets him into deep trouble, he comes to realize the important of authenticity. Indeed, it takes Theo being tricked himself over the thing that matters the most to him—the painting The Goldfinch—to realize that authenticity provides the meaning, logic, and assurance that are vitally needed in a cruel and chaotic world.

The novel conveys the importance of authenticity through the character of Hobie, who shows how devotion to authenticity can provide calm and meaning in a confusing world. Hobie finds everything about antiques inherently fascinating, including all the factors that make a piece authentic. Hobie’s pure love for his work as an antiques restorer, dedication to his craft, and skill as a restorer earn him a reputation as a particularly upstanding, trustworthy dealer. When Theo comes to stay with him as a 13-year-old, Hobie teaches him about his trade. Theo explains, “I learned about veneers and gilding, what a mortise and tenon was, the difference between ebonized wood and true ebony.” Throwing himself into this trade soothes Theo in the wake of his mother’s death. Indeed, the ability to tell when an antique is authentic gives him a purpose and sense of meaning when the rest of the world seems totally chaotic and cruel. At one point Theo links Hobie’s skill as a restorer to his ability to perceive Theo’s true feelings. Hobie is a deeply attentive person, both in his restoration business and in his relationship with Theo, and the novel indicates that prioritizing authenticity is equally important in both cases.

However, Theo eventually discovers that fabrication seems to offer many benefits of its own. When Theo is 26 and has joined Hobie’s business as a partner, he begins selling fabricated antiques as real. At first Theo does this to save the shop from financial ruin. However, after he realizes how easy it is to dupe customers into buying the fakes, he can’t stop and ends up making a fortune. Theo even comes to enjoy selling the fakes to gullible customers and inventing elaborate ways to make it seem as if the fakes are real. Indeed, Theo develops a level of skill in selling fabricated antiques comparable to Hobie’s skill in restoring them. He comes to know the different kinds of customers and applies different methods to each of them. Theo gets a thrill out of developing this skill, as when he observes: “With this species of cheat—whom I took great pleasure in rooking—the trick was to play dumb, look bored, stay engrossed in my book, act as if I didn’t know what I had, and let them think they were rooking me.”

Theo’s skill as a fabricator highlights how falsehood has its own appeal that can seem like it outweighs the value of authenticity. Theo also comes to learn about the common qualities that make people vulnerable to being tricked. Not only do people feel like they want a deal, but they tend to ignore signs pointing to the truth: “Four times out of five they would look right past what they didn’t want to see.”

What’s more, Theo discovers that in many ways, fake antiques really are as valuable as real ones—particularly when they are valued not as works of art, but rather as status symbols. Theo takes advantage of the fact that objects gain real value when people simply think they are valuable. For example, he uses inventive ways to produce “paper trails” that indicate that the fake antiques he is selling were once part of the collections of important people. This convinces customers that the antiques in question are real, and perhaps more importantly, it makes them want to buy them more because they crave elite status more than they crave genuine beauty or craftsmanship. Based on this experience, Theo concludes, “An object—any object—was worth whatever you could get somebody to pay for it.”

Yet while Theo develops great skill in selling fabrications and even comes to act as though that fake antiques are just as valuable as real ones, he is ultimately forced to confront the importance of authenticity. This occurs when he is blackmailed by a customer, Lucius Reeve, who knows he has been sold a fake (and who, as the reader later learns, knows Theo took The Goldfinch). Theo is forced to tell Hobie the truth about selling fakes, a devastating moment in which Theo realizes how much he has betrayed Hobie and, in particular, the values Hobie has passed on to him. He realizes that even though many people will accept fabricated antiques as real, he cannot live with himself by participating in this deception. This is because, to Theo himself, authenticity is important, and what makes art meaningful.

Theo also gets an even more forceful reminder of the importance of authenticity when he gets tricked himself. Toward the end of the novel, Boris reveals that he stole The Goldfinch while he and Theo were in high school, and that the package Theo has been carrying around ever since does not contain the painting at all. Boris is shocked that Theo never looked inside the package to see, a fact that serves as a further reminder that people “look right past what they don’t want to see.”

The experience of being tricked forces Theo to appreciate the importance of authenticity, and eventually leads him to use the reward money for The Goldfinch to buy back all the fakes he sold to Hobie’s customers over the years. Theo’s decision to buy back the fakes mirrors Boris’ promise to return The Goldfinch, which he does at great personal risk to himself. Both Theo and Boris learn that it is important not to deceive people through fabrication. In the redemptive act of buying back the bad antiques, Theo is able to undo his descent into dishonesty and greed, and remind himself of the values that give his life meaning. Indeed, it is his year of journeying around the world buying back the antiques that prompts Theo to deliver the long passage at the end of the novel in which he reflects on the way in which caring for art brings meaning to life. Through Theo’s experience, the novel demonstrates that there’s truly no substitute for authenticity, no matter how tempting falsehoods might seem in the moment.