The Goldfinch: Part 2, Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

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 building. However, when he arrives a new doorman treats him with rude suspicion. Theo explains that he left the bag with José, but the new doorman, whose name is Marco, says that without a receipt Theo can’t collect it because he is not a tenant of the building. At that moment, Goldie walks over and greets Theo warmly. He indicates that he and José did not officially log the bag in order to prevent someone other than Theo from picking it up, and Theo thanks him for this.

Goldie explains that Marco was hired after an older doorman was fired for not being able to make it to work on the day of the terrorist attack. Ever since the attack, the management have also become extra “security-conscious.” In spite of Theo’s 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 off as well. The two of them make Theo promise to send him a picture for the basement, which is covered in postcards that the tenants and doormen have sent from their vacations.

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. Barbour bids Theo goodbye in a bright, friendly manner; the rest of the family have already gone up to Maine. Theo feels “sick” at the prospect of leaving. He is nervous about the security check at the airport, and asks if the staff will search your luggage. When he asks about this on the cab in the way to airport, the driver replies that the search is very extensive, assuming that Theo is worried about the possibility of explosives getting through.

Xandra says she can’t wait to “get the fuck out of” New York. She says she is nervous about the flight, and she and Larry kiss, which disgusts Theo. At the airport, Theo is terrified that they will open his suitcase in the security line. He is also nervous because he hasn’t been in such a busy environment since the terrorist attack at the Met. He imagines himself being interrogated by angry security staff in a cinderblock room. Larry and Xandra notice that Theo is pale and assume he is nervous about the plane. Although Theo insists he is not scared, Larry tells Xandra to give him half a white pill anyway.  

Thanks to the pill, Theo spends the plane 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 Larry’s car is a brand new Lexus. Gliding through the desert landscape and past the dazzling sight of the Strip, Theo feels “as if we had touched down on another planet.” He is both excited and nervous to be so radically untethered from New York, and thus his link to Audrey. He thinks about a story Audrey used to tell of how, when they first started dating, Larry would borrow a friend’s Porsche to pick her up. She didn’t realize it wasn’t his until after they married.

Theo asks how long Larry has had the Lexus, and he replies that it’s been over a year, which means he’d gotten it before he abandoned Audrey and Theo. They have now driven into the suburbs, with rows and rows of identical houses painted in pastel colors, each with a yard. As they drive, the houses get bigger and bigger, and Theo is stunned when Larry announces that they are home on a road with a sign that reads: “The Ranches at Canyon Shadows.” Xandra explains that there are multiple clusters of developments called “ranch communities.” Larry, meanwhile, is getting increasingly irritable.

They arrive outside their house, which Theo finds elegant and impressive, like “a stage set.” He can hear a screaming sound coming from inside. When Xandra opens the front door, Theo is greeted by the loud sound of the TV and the smell of cigarettes and dog shit. Xandra explains that she left the TV on for the dog, Popper, who she is now yelling at to get down from her. Popper is a rather dirty-looking Maltese; Xandra explains that she “won him in a raffle.” Looking around the house, Theo is surprised to see that it is quite empty. He thinks it would have been a good idea to bring some of Audrey’s things to fill it, instead of selling them all.

Theo’s room is just as “bare and lonely” as the rest of the house. Downstairs, Larry and Xandra are screaming at each other. Carefully, Theo removes The Goldfinch from his bag and looks at it. He is stunned by how “the muted colors bloomed with light.” However, soon after, Larry knocks on the door, asking if Theo wants Chinese takeout. Panicking, Theo calls out that he is coming and thrusts the painting into a spare pillowcase, then hides it under his bed.

In the following weeks, before school starts, Theo covertly listens 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 time he left. He also realizes that Larry has not actually stopped drinking, but now sticks to the combination of Corona Light and Vicodin. Theo observes that “the new, drugged-out Dad” is much nicer to be around than Larry’s former self. He sits watching sports on cable TV and smoking cigarettes.

Theo has been finding mysterious pieces of paper covered with grids of numbers all over the house, and one day he asks Xandra what they are. She explains that she and Larry often play baccarat at the MGM Grand, and that the sheets of paper are records of games they’ve played. When Theo asks if he can come too, Xandra reminds him that children aren’t allowed in casinos. Theo is both attracted and repelled by Xandra, who is obsessed with wearing white and vanilla-flavored everything. Theo sometimes overhears her complaining about him to a friend on the phone, saying “I didn’t sign on for this.” He wants to find a way to make her like him. She works night shifts as a bar manager at a casino on the Strip.

When Xandra and Larry are at home, Theo tends to stay in his room, but when they are out he roams around the mostly-empty house. Although this is lonely, he enjoys the freedom of not being at the Barbours’, constantly scrutinized by adults. The neighboring houses on Desert End Road are all empty. Theo has scarcely seen anyone walking around on the street. He struggles with the lack of cultural amenities such as movie theaters and libraries, but when he asks Xandra about any buses that go into the city, she acts as if he is insane. The one consolation is that the house has a pool, where Theo now spends much of his time. 

From the outside, Theo’s new school looks a little like “a minimum security prison,” but on the inside it reminds him of his old one. During recess, he reads Walden, which has been 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 company executives, who are just passing through the city. The most popular kids are those who’ve been in Vegas the longest. Theo sometimes sits at Spanish Table, sometimes at German—although he doesn’t speak German, he likes it there because many of the kids also grew up in New York.

Theo is surprised by how many of his classmates dislike Walden. He notices that the boy sitting next to him keeps laughing at what the other students are saying. This boy looks like a “runaway,” with greasy black hair and dirty fingernails. He reminds Theo of the kids who used to sit around St. Mark’s Place. It turns out that this boy will become “one of the greatest friends of [Theo’s] life.” The first thing the kid says to Theo is “Harry Potter,” a nickname he’s acquired in Las Vegas thanks to his glasses and preppy style of dress. The two of them end up sitting next to each other on the school bus, and learn that they both live in the same ranch community, Canyon Shadows. 

The boy speaks fluent English, with an Australian accent that also has Slavic undertones. He tells Theo that he has lived in Russia, Scotland, Australia, Poland, New Zealand, Texas, New Guinea, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Ukraine, though he adds that he has spent the most time in Australia, Russia, and Ukraine. He says that he speaks Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish, but that he’s lost some fluency. He introduces himself as Boris, and says that although his mother was Polish, English is the easiest language for him to speak now. Like Theo, Boris is an only child. His father is a Ukrainian who was born in Siberia, and his mother is dead.

Boris is nonchalant about his mother’s death, saying she was an alcoholic who has “been dead for donkey’s years.” He tells Theo that of all the places he’s lived, he wants to go back to Papua New Guinea most. He shows Theo a bracelet that his Papuan friend Bami made for him. After living in New Guinea, Boris and his dad moved to north Alaska, then to Alberta, Canada. When Theo asks what Boris’ dad does, Boris replies that he mostly drinks, and Theo comments that their fathers should meet. Boris roars with laughter, then asks Theo to come over and watch TV. Theo is hesitant, but after some cajoling from Boris agrees.  

When Boris and Theo get off the school bus, they have to walk another 20 minutes to Boris’ house. On the edge of Canyon Shadows, many of the houses have been foreclosed, while most seem to have never been lived in at all. Boris observes that these houses were built “too far out,” and that many of the residents can’t even get water in them. He then says that his father works in mining, which means that “People hate us, everywhere we go.” Inside, Boris offers Theo beer, mentioning that there is also vodka in the freezer. Theo accepts a beer. Boris says that his father’s alcoholism killed the nerves in his feet, and Theo says that Larry is “supposedly” sober now.

Boris takes Theo into his room, which is covered in old beer bottles, books, clothes, and other fabrics, and smells strongly of smoke. They discuss watching a movie, but never manage to do it because they can’t stop talking. Theo is fascinated by Boris’ extraordinary life. After they have been talking for hours, Boris announces that he is hungry, but then adds that the only things to eat are bread and sugar. Theo is horrified, and suggests that they go to his house instead. Boris is on his fourth beer and seems a little drunk. They set off for Theo’s house.

Theo and Boris become very close very quickly, in part because neither of them have any family and thus come to rely on each other. Theo remains astonished by all the things Boris has experienced, including “actual sex with a girl.” They get the bus together and hang out every day after school. Boris is often in a dark mood, interspersed with frequent “bursts of hilarity.” He explains that his Indonesian friend Bami persuaded him to convert to Islam, but that he is no longer a Muslim, because it would be improper to keep practicing the faith while drinking alcohol. Boris claims that he doesn’t “believe in anything” and never has, but converted because he adored the Muslims he met in Indonesia. They gave him an Arabic name, Badr al-Dine.

Although Boris’ English-language skills are excellent, he always carries around a dictionary and writes down unusual words like “celerity” and “propinquity.” Much of American culture confuses him, from food to car types to popular music and TV. Boris is completely self-sufficient, shoplifting his food and signing his own report cards. He shows Theo a bus that will take them to a mall where they can steal food. Theo can make a few basic meals, and he cooks for the two of them while Boris does the dishes.

Theo suggests that they go to the strip to steal from drunk people. Boris calls Theo “Potter” and has an enormous collection of nicknames for Xandra’s dog Popper. Craving love, Popper has become very attached to Theo and Boris. Boris balks at the idea of stealing people’s wallets, saying there is a big moral difference between stealing from stores and from working people. Theo and Boris are now eating together every night, and Boris has got Theo into the habit of taking vodka shots after dinner. They often drink themselves to sleep while watching TV.

Theo misses the Barbours’ apartment. He gets polite emails from Andy and Mrs. Barbour and also writes many letters to Pippa, most of which he doesn’t send, and which she isn’t well enough to answer anyway. Watching Theo write, Boris asks if Pippa is his girlfriend, which irritates Theo. Theo also writes a letter to Hobie, but doesn’t send this either. Soon after, however, he gets a long letter from Hobie written on “rich paper.” Hobie writes that he misses Pippa, and that apparently she’s not happy in Texas, although her health is improving. He provides updates on the people around his neighborhood, and admits that he is lonely without Theo. He concludes that if Theo ever needs anything, he would be glad to help.

That night, Theo tries to visualize Pippa, but can’t. Instead he remembers Audrey telling him a story which ended in her reminding him that no matter where in the world a person goes, the moon is always the same. He wakes up Boris and asks if the moon looks the same everywhere, and after some initial confusion about the question, Boris confirms it does. At this moment, the boys hear sounds from downstairs, and realize it is Boris’ father coming home drunk with a woman. Boris guesses that she is “some whore,” before realizing that there are two women there. They share a cigarette and fall back asleep. Theo has a distressing dream about Audrey. 

Boris explains that his father often spends weeks at a time camped out by the mine. Theo is stunned to discover that Boris’ father washes his suits at home in his bathroom sink, but Boris is strangely defensive about this. Weeks later, Boris comes into class with a black eye, and although he lies to the teacher about how he got it, he nonchalantly tells Theo that his father beat him after coming home drunk. In the morning, he cried and apologized. He has now departed for the mine again, but before going left Boris about $400. Boris suggests that he and Theo use the money to go and eat in a restaurant, suggesting Mexican because the last time they ate at the local Chinese restaurant, they fled without paying.

Boris likes Xandra and is always polite to her. He says to Theo, “God, she’s hot,” and asks if Theo has realized that she uses cocaine. He says he can tell by the way she talks and grinds her teeth. Then, one day, Theo and Boris walk in on her sniffing something from the coffee table. Boris asks if Theo thinks she’s selling it, and it suddenly occurs to Theo that he doesn’t know where Larry gets his money. He notes that there is never money or checks lying around the house, although he sometimes finds gambling chips. Yet because he is under 18, he cannot cash them in at the casino. Boris advises Theo to figure out where Larry and Xandra hide their money, just in case he ever needs some in an emergency.

Larry and Xandra book themselves a Thanksgiving dinner at a hotel on the Strip. Larry invites Theo, but Theo says he will be spending the holiday with Boris. Xandra asks if Theo wants her to bring home anything from work, and Theo says that Boris likes the cocktail sausages she brings, whereas Theo likes the hot wings. She tells Theo that she doesn’t mind if he smokes, but asks that he stop stealing her cigarettes.

Theo imagined Mr. Pavlikovsky to be muscular and tough-looking, and is surprised to find that he is actually thin and “wiry.” It is a few days before Thanksgiving, and Boris and Theo walk home from school to find Mr. Pavlikovsky “hunched” at the kitchen table next to a bottle. Boris says something in Ukrainian, and then—to Theo’s surprise—Mr. Pavlikovsky tells Theo, in thickly accented English, “Thank you […] You are good person.” He says that Theo is a son to him because of the way he accepted Boris into his family. To Theo’s even greater surprise, Mr. Pavlikovsky then gives him a tight hug.

Later, Boris explains that he told his father that he would be staying at Theo’s house while Mr. Pavlikovsky is away at the mine. He says that he lied about Theo’s address and gave his last name as Potter, in order to avoid his father ever turning up at Theo’s house.

On Thanksgiving, Boris and Theo eat potato chips, drink vodka, and watch the Macy’s parade on TV. Boris asks if Theo and Audrey ever went to the parade, and Theo says they didn’t. Prompted by Boris, he admits that he is “a little” sad. In reality, he is tormented by memories of last year’s Thanksgiving, which he and Audrey spent together. Theo asks if Boris is hungry and Boris claims he isn’t, but Theo—feeling ill from eating too many chips and smoking too many cigarettes—gets the food Xandra brought from the fridge anyway. By the time they actually eat, they have drunk so much vodka that they are on the verge of vomiting.

Boris won’t stop talking and Theo tells him to shut up; Boris throws a book at Theo, then a cocktail sausage, and they collapse in laughter. Boris keeps speaking Russian and insists on changing the TV to the weather channel, because he wants to see the weather in Papua New Guinea. Theo passes out and wakes up near a pool of his own vomit. Boris is lying nearby on the sofa, snoring. Theo goes to the bathroom to be sick again, then cleans up his vomit from the carpet.

Theo thinks about Hobie’s house, which always brings him comfort. He decides to call Hobie, and when Hobie doesn’t answer, he calls the Barbours. Kitsey answers and says that the family are late for dinner; Theo asks to speak to Andy, but Kitsey says they have to go and hangs up. After Thanksgiving, Theo sees Mr. Pavlikovsky a couple more times and has brief but pleasant enough interactions with him. However, one day he gets home while Theo has Popper with him, and Boris shoves Theo out of the house, claiming his father will “kill” Popper. Theo dashes out but peeks through the windows. He sees that Mr. Pavlikovsky is using a cane.

Boris and Mr. Pavlikovsky have a fight, which mostly consists of Mr. Pavlikovsky yelling at Boris, until he unexpectedly whacks him with his cane. Theo stumbles away, picking up Popper and running from the house. He hears someone following him and is relieved to see that it is Boris. However, Mr. Pavlikovsky is following behind, and Boris hurries Theo along. Once they have safely escaped, Boris tells Theo that the fight wasn’t a big deal, and triumphantly holds up a bottle of vodka he stole on the way out of the house. He suggests that they go to the playground and have a drink before heading to Theo’s house.

On the playground, Boris tells Theo that Mr. Pavlikovsky has killed people, and once beat a man to death at the mine in Papua New Guinea with a pipe wrench. Once both of them are very drunk, they stumble to Theo’s house, Boris singing a Polish song. On Theo’s request, Boris teaches him the song, translating the lyrics into English. They get back to the house to find it empty. In the light, Theo can see that Boris is covered in blood. He looks in the bathroom for something to clean Boris’ wound with but finds only shampoo and perfume, then remembers Audrey saying that perfume is antiseptic. When Theo sprays it on Boris’ wound, Boris yells and punches Theo in the face. They both collapse into hysterics.

The boys strip off their clothes and jump into the pool, which Theo realizes too late is a bad idea. He gets out but Boris pulls him back in again, and this brings back traumatic memoires of being inside the Met after the terrorist attack. Theo tells Boris, “Don’t ever do that to me again” and tries to get revenge, but at that moment sees that Boris is white and that his nose is bleeding again. He tries to help Boris out but the two of them end up collapsed on the steps of the pool, “too exhausted even to climb all the way out.”

Theo wakes up the next day in his bed with Boris. Both feel like they are about to be sick, and Boris goes to the bathroom to vomit. When he returns, Theo realizes that the wound on Boris’ forehead likely needs stitches. Boris announces that they are late for school, and they both burst into laughter. Boris finds a glass of vodka and gets on top of Theo, trying to pour it on him. Theo throws Boris off him, then goes to the bathroom to vomit himself. When he returns to his room, Boris says that last night he told Theo not to put the glass on the floor, as it is bad luck. They go downstairs, which looks like a “murder scene”: there’s blood and clothes everywhere, and a pile of vomit in the pool.

Theo comments that what Mr. Pavlikovsky did to Boris was “crazy,” but Boris brushes it off, saying he “provoked him on purpose” in order to give Theo and Popper a chance to escape. He dismisses Theo’s claim that Mr. Pavlikovsky should be in jail, insisting that his father really loves him. Boris admits that back in Ukraine, he once tried to kill his father by locking him out while he was drunk in the snow. Boris emphasizes that if anyone knew the truth about his father hitting him, he would be deported. He jokes that he would rather kill himself than be sent back to Poland. Theo is hungry, and says they should have gone to school because the cafeteria serves pizza today. Boris points out that it is “too late now.”

Theo often has nightmares about the terrorist attack where he wakes up screaming, but fortunately Boris is never fazed by this. Sometimes, when Theo is having a nightmare, Boris puts Popper on his chest for comfort. Theo soothes himself by thinking about the Barbours’ apartment or Hobie’s house. Hobie writes him a letter saying that if he’d known Larry was going to sell Audrey’s things, he would have tried to buy some of them for Theo, because holding onto things can provide relief during difficult times. The letter is enclosed within a book called Wind, Sand, and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which Theo reads and rereads several times.

Boris is the only person in Las Vegas whom Theo tells about the way Audrey died. Boris has an intuitive understanding of Theo’s relationship to Hobie, admiring how dedicated Hobie is in writing to Theo. He asks if Hobie is an “old poofter,” and Theo, shocked, says he doesn’t think so but doesn’t know. Boris remains nonchalant, saying it doesn’t matter—what’s important is that Hobie is kind. Boris has also developed sympathy for Larry. He has a better understanding of the way in which Larry makes money from gambling, and is eager to celebrate whenever Larry wins. He is also impressed by the fact that Larry was an actor, despite Theo emphasizing that he was never particularly famous or successful. 

Boris and Larry enthusiastically discuss politics together, and although it makes Theo cringe to see Larry imitating Boris’ accent, Boris himself doesn’t really care. Boris tells Theo that Larry really loves him and wants to repair their relationship, which Theo finds hard to believe. Theo becomes increasingly frustrated with Boris’ sympathy for Larry, and dismayed by the way that Larry can charm people who don’t know him well. Eventually, Boris assures Theo, “If you hate him, I hate him too,” but adds that he must be kind and respectful because he is living in Larry’s house.

While Larry has barely noticed Boris moving in, Xandra is a different matter. It is almost Christmas, and the approaching holiday is making Theo feel down. Boris dismisses Christmas as being “for little children,” but then suggests that they have a festive dinner on Christmas Eve with Larry and Xandra. To Theo’s surprise, Larry and Xandra love the idea, and give him and Boris money to buy ingredients. Yet on the night, while the boys are still cooking, Larry comes in, dressed up and seeming drunk, and announces that he is taking them out. He says they will eat the food they are cooking tomorrow, for Christmas Day lunch.

Neither Boris nor Theo has spent much time on the Strip before, and tonight, they are overwhelmed by what they see. Larry has made a reservation at a fancy Italian restaurant and tells the boys to “Order what you like […] Go wild.” They do so, and Boris eats enthusiastically, thanking Larry (whom he calls “Mr. Potter”). Larry himself doesn’t eat much; he is sweating and ecstatic about his latest win. He talks about bringing Boris and Theo over to meet Diego, the dealer at the baccarat table, but Xandra warns him about “getting too chummy with the dealers.” Boris gives a short toast in which he thanks everyone for their “company” and wishes them all health and happiness. Larry hands Xandra a jewelry box, and gives $500 in cash each to Boris and Theo.