Lizzy Minnerath Journal 4 The Goldfinch 137 1091/1200 A regular fifteen-year-old boy might be worried about homework or a sporting event. Theo, on the other hand, faces much more difficult and mature conflicts after the unfortunate death of his mother. Theo deals with differing opinions on his living situations, his poor excuse of a father, and his internal struggle for what is right. There are currently 23,692 homeless children in New York City, New York. This is a very real possibility as Theo contemplates his few living options. With the whereabouts of his mother still unknown, Theo continues to call the hotline for information. Upon being inquired about his age and the location of his father, information Theo was unwilling to give, the …show more content…
Theo’s father was often drunk and mistreated him and his mother: “My mother tried to make him go to AA but he wouldn’t go. Sometimes the doormen used to come and stand in the hall outside the apartment and make a lot of noise so he could hear them – so he knew they were out there, you know? So he didn’t get too out of hand” (Tartt 136). Theo’s father left them and only returned for the luring thought that Theo might have money from all the press he was getting. When Theo goes to live with his father in Vegas it is like he is living with a ghost.☺ Theo hardly ever sees his father due to his gambling addiction. At one point Theo’s father directs him to withdraw money under the charade that he needed money for boarding school. When Theo was unsuccessful to retrieve the money, his father lashed out: “Without warning, my dad snapped out and whacked me across the face, so hard and fast that for a second I didn’t know what had happened, Then almost before I could blink he hit me again with his fist… He caught me by the throat with a sharp upward thrust and forced me up on tiptoe so I was gasping for breath (Tartt 326). Undoubtedly, Theo and his father did not get along nor did they have any inkling of blood-linked love for each