The Goldfinch By Donna Tartt

As the old saying indicates, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” In the novel The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, the use of multiple pieces of art reflects the experiences and hardships that Theo experiences. Tartt uses the art as a powerful symbol of the hardships that Theo has to endure. The Boy with the Skull painting represents the guilt Theo feels about his mother’s death, and the painting The View of Delft After the Explosion represents the future tragedy Theo experiences. Often individuals find reasons to blame themselves when they lose a loved one in a tragic accident. Theo felt tremendous guilt since his mother’s death, and he was unable to escape it. At the beginning of the novel, he states, “her death was my fault” (8). The skull is a known symbol of death and mortality, and

In literature, authors tend to foreshadow events. The painting The View of Delft After the Explosion serves as a powerful foreshadowing device for the tragic event that happens later in the novel. As Theo and his mother look at this painting, his mother says, “The disaster at Delft. That killed Fabritius” (27). The painting mirrors the tragic event that changed Theo’s life forever. The painting was made after a disaster at Delft which killed the artist, Fabritius. This is a direct relation to the fire at the art museum where Theo and his mother were, and how it killed his mother, who happens to love art. The smoke and damaged pieces of the explosion in the painting also symbolize the lingering guilt and post-traumatic stress that Theo has to live with every day. Theo’s trauma is an ongoing struggle, and the explosion in the painting symbolizes the tragedy experienced by Theo and his mother. From the moment of the explosion and continuing well into adulthood, Theo carries the weight of that guilt every day. He somehow feels responsible for the death of his mother and is unable to let that