Theodore Decker

Theodore Decker is the thirteen-year-old main character of The Goldfinch, whose life and coming of age are highlighted in this novel up until he turns twenty-six. After Theo's mother dies in a terrorist explosion in a New York art museum, and he survives, young Theo is left to pick up the pieces and make sense of a life which is foreign to him without his mother, his only true landmark. First, Theo is temporarily placed with the Barbours, a wealthy Park Avenue family, whose son Andy has been friends with Theo ever since elementary school, where they both skipped a grade and suffered beatings at the hands of bullies. Theo begins his journey as a fairly innocent teenager, who is depressed and grief-stricken over the loss of his mother. Mrs. Barbour held Theo in high regard because she thought Theo protected Andy and helped Andy to socialize...