The Goldfinch: Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

The two social workers take Theo to a diner downtown and order him scrambled eggs. They ask him when he last saw Larry, and he guesses it was sometime the previous fall. They ask about any close friends of Larry’s who might have his contact information, and Theo is shocked just by the idea that Larry might have close friends. It is only at the end of the conversation that Theo realizes the social workers are trying to figure out whose care he should be placed under. They tell him that he needs to be placed into “emergency custody” until they can reach his “grandpa and grandma.” Theo is stunned to hear Larry’s parents referred to in this way.

The social workers’ calm demeanor makes Theo increasingly agitated. He exclaims that he doesn’t want to go into foster care, and they explain that this might be avoidable if Theo finds someone else he can stay with. Without really knowing why, Theo gives the number of his school friend Andy Barbour. Although they were close when they were younger, Andy and Theo have drifted apart in middle school. Andy’s family are wealthy and live on Park Avenue, yet as Theo is telling the social workers about them, he remembers that Andy’s father, Mr. Barbour, recently spent time in a mental hospital due to “exhaustion.”

The social workers tell Theo that they will drop him at the Barbours’ house now and then figure out if he can stay there longer term. They take him back to his apartment to pick up his schoolbag and some clothes. Inside Andy’s building, the doorman gives Theo a look of pity. Mr. Barbour, who is a bit strange-looking and wearing rumpled clothes, opens the door and welcomes Theo and the social workers. Mrs. Barbour enters. Though not beautiful, she is so elegant that she seems beautiful. She tells Theo that he’ll be sharing Andy’s room, but that because Andy is still asleep, Theo can rest in the room of Andy’s brother Platt, who is away at boarding school.

Platt is “a champion lacrosse player and a bit of a psychopath,” with violent tendencies. Mr. Barbour accompanies Theo into the room, rummaging around for some pajamas for him to wear. Erratically, he asks if Theo would like company and then offers him a “nip” of alcohol, before retracting the offer after realizing it is inappropriate. A sleepy-looking Andy comes in and sits with Theo on Platt’s bed. Andy comments that what has happened is “disturbing”; Theo agrees, and they say nothing else.

In the ensuing weeks, Theo is constantly being offered food he can’t eat and trying to hide the fact that he is crying. Many of Audrey’s friends come to see him, along with his social workers and a psychiatrist paid for by the city. Meanwhile, the Barbours’ lives continue as normal. Andy’s little siblings, Toddy and Kitsey, run around with their friends, while Mrs. Barbour hosts friends for coffee or fancy dinner parties. They do not seem to mind having Theo there, and Mrs. Barbour makes life easier for Theo in subtle ways, such as by backing up his assertions that he has no idea where Larry is. She also orders that the radio, TV news, and newspaper be kept away from Theo.      

Luckily, Andy understands that Theo doesn’t want to talk about what happened and doesn’t bring it up. The boys became friends “under more or less traumatic circumstances,” when they were both moved up a grade in elementary school. Both bullied, they formed an alliance and were each the other’s only friend. This period in time embarrasses Theo now. Before being moved up a grade, Theo had never been bullied, but Andy always had. Andy is extremely smart, with an irritating manner. Andy doesn’t fit in with his preppy, athletic brothers and sister. Whereas Theo regained popularity in middle school, Andy never did.

Though not very talkative, Andy is a star pupil, and would have been sent to the same boarding school as Platt if his parents hadn’t been too worried about him being bullied. Now, Andy apologizes for having to study while Theo is staying with him, although Theo doesn’t mind. He obsesses over how long it has been since Audrey died, counting the days. He misses her to the point of feeling suicidal. He turns over the events of the day she died and wishes he had done something differently, so that they would have avoided going to the Met. He feels that he has “fallen off the map” and keeps telling himself that he has to go home, before remembering that he can’t. 

When Andy goes back to school, Theo watches movies on the TV in Andy’s bedroom. However, after two days Mrs. Barbour tells Theo she doesn’t think it’s good for him to be staying home, and that she’s therefore sending him back to school the next day. Theo is horrified by this idea, not wanting Audrey’s death to be turned into a “public fact.” Just as he predicted, going back is awful. He obsesses over the fact that last time he was at school, Audrey was alive. Some people offer condolences, whereas others, including Theo’s friend Tom, avoid him. When Theo approaches him, Tom offers a half-hearted “sorry,” before teasing him for dressing like Platt. For the first time since Audrey’s death, Theo laughs.

However, after this exchange, Tom continues to ignore Theo. Theo isn’t upset, but furious, and he fantasizes about beating up Tom. He reasons that if Tom’s cigarette hadn’t gotten them suspended, then Audrey would still be alive, and the least Tom can do is be decent to him now. Some of the other kids are actively kind to Theo, leaving him notes or giving him hugs, but they respond to his presence with “cautious, half-terrified politeness.” Adults dote on him, giving advice on how to cope with mourning that he finds ridiculous.

One day, Mrs. Barbour tells Theo that Social Services has called her. She gravely informs him that his step-grandmother, Dorothy, is not well, and that it therefore won’t be possible for Theo to stay with her and his grandfather in Maryland. Instead, Theo will remain with the Barbours for at least another few weeks, until the end of the school year. While they are speaking, Mrs. Barbour notices the ring that Theo took from Welty at the Met, which he has been wearing, and compliments him on it. She asks if it is a family heirloom and Theo lies, saying it is. She scrutinizes it and notices that it is engraved with the word “Blackwell.”

Theo’s grandparents had suggested that he could live near them at a Holiday Inn, yet while Theo doesn’t think this sounds like such a bad idea, the adults around him insist that it should not happen. His psychiatrist, Dave, expresses confidence that they will be able to find a better solution once Dorothy has recovered. In reality, Theo knows that his grandparents barely know him and do not care about him. A few days later, Dorothy sends a card offering condolences and reiterating that it will be difficult for her and Theo’s grandfather, Bob, to care for him.

Andy suggests that Theo just stay with his family for good, and Mr. Barbour somewhat unconvincingly asserts that while they would all love that, it wouldn’t be fair to “kidnap” Theo. He asks if Theo knows how to sail and offers to teach him how to read nautical flags. Meanwhile, Theo makes an effort to be the best guest possible, although it is hard find ways to help out when there are so many staff members employed to run the household. He struggles to fit into the routine of the house and worries that he is being a nuisance. Mr. and Mrs. Barbour don’t spend much time at home and thus they don’t notice, but Theo knows he is annoying Kitsey and Toddy. 

Movers are booked to come to Theo’s old apartment and place Audrey’s things in storage, and he knows he will have to retrieve The Goldfinch and bring it back to the museum before they come. Some investigators have already come to the Barbours’ apartment to enquire about the painting, but Mrs. Barbour shooed them away because she had important guests arriving imminently. Three days later, the investigators came to Theo’s school and took him out of class to a meeting that included his social worker Enrique, one of his teachers, the school counselor, Dave, and Mrs. Barbour.

The investigators quiz Theo about what he remembers from the day of the terrorist attack. When he panics, the adults assure him that it’s fine to respond to their questions with, “I don’t know.” As he is questioned, Theo expects that at a certain point he will just have to admit that he took the painting. However, he then comes to realize that the investigators have no idea where he was when the explosion happened or what he did after. When they continue to press him on questions he can’t answer, he feels like he is about to cry. They show him pictures of people and ask if he recognizes anyone, but he doesn’t. Repeatedly he tells them he doesn’t remember what happened, until finally the investigators thank him and leave, asking that he call them if he recalls anything else. 

Theo returns to English, his last class of the day. He feels traumatized by the investigators’ questions, and he falls into a daydream thinking about the day of the explosion and the eyes of the red-headed girl looking at him. The investigators hadn’t shown him any pictures of the girl or Welty, although he’s not sure if he would have recognized Welty anyway, considering his face was so “torn up and ruined” when they met.

Theo’s nightmares have been waking Andy in the night, so Mrs. Barbour starts giving him a pill to stop him from dreaming. He is also still pretty much unable to eat, which worries Mrs. Barbour. At breakfast, Andy complains that his parents won’t allow him to drink coffee, while Mrs. Barbour desperately tries to find a type of food that Theo will be willing to eat. Days later, Theo wakes up suddenly remembering what Welty said to him: “Hobart and Blackwell. Ring the green bell.” However, he is not quite sure whether it is an actual memory or rather something that only occurred in a dream. 

Getting up, Theo looks up Hobart and Blackwell in the White Pages. It is some kind of business in the West Village. Nervously, Theo calls the number, but at that moment Mrs. Barbour comes in, telling Theo to come to the dining room for breakfast. Following her, Theo is surprised to see Platt sitting at the table. Platt looks hungover, and Andy and his parents are having another argument about sailing, which Andy insists he hates. Mr. Barbour becomes increasingly animated as he discusses the wonders of sailing, while Theo remains distracted by thoughts of Hobart and Blackwell. He tries to sneak off as soon as possible to dial the number again, but Andy follows him.

Theo explains about the ring, and Andy suggests that he just go down to West 10th street to visit Hobart and Blackwell himself. Andy lets slip that a lot of “strange people” have been calling the Barbour residence and asking for Theo. He offers to come downtown with Theo, but Theo knows that Andy has an extra credit trip for his Japanese class that afternoon, and thus politely declines. Andy gives Theo his phone to borrow for the trip.

Once Theo gets down to the Village, he walks around lost for 45 minutes before finding West 10th and, eventually, Hobart and Blackwell. It is an antiques shop, the kind of place Audrey would have adored. It is closed, and Theo decides to wait around, predicting it might open at noon. Yet after wandering around for a while, he sees that it’s still shut, and that it looks like it might have been a while since it was last open. Peering through the window, Theo sees a hint of motion, and remembers the instruction to “ring the green bell.” Looking around, he finds a narrow doorway with an unlabeled bell above green tape.

Theo rings the bell, and a very tall, “haggard” looking person opens the door. The man’s hair is grey, and his skin is “an unhealthy white.” He is wearing a floral robe. Theo apologizes for disturbing the man, and holds out the ring, explaining: “He gave it to me […] he told me to bring it here.” The tall man introduces himself as Hobie, and beckons Theo inside.