Boris Pavlikovsky

**Boris Volodymyrovych Pavlikovsky** is a major character in *The Goldfinch*. He is portrayed by Finn Wolfhard and Aneurin Barnard in the 2019 film adaptation.

> As long as I am acting out of love, I feel I am doing best I know how.
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## History

### Early Life Abroad

Boris was born in Ukraine to a Ukrainian father and a Polish mother. Both of his parents were alcoholics. His mother died when he was young, falling out of a window while intoxicated. His father built mines for a living and had violent tendencies due to his alcoholism, severely psychically abusing Boris and once killing a man while living in New Guinea.

Because of his father's occupation, the Pavlikovskys moved often. Before the age of fifteen, he had lived in Ukraine, Australia, Russia, Poland, Scotland, New Zealand, Texas (United States), Alaska (United States), New Guinea, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Sweden. Due to his constant moving, Boris was fluent in Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, and English.

Boris ran away from his father many times, once even attempting to kill his father by tricking him into going outside into the Ukrainian winter while he was intoxicated and locking him out, hoping he would freeze. When his father returned days later, he did not remember the incident. Also in Ukraine, during one of the periods where Boris had run away from his father, he lived on the streets. While homeless, Boris was almost kidnapped and forced into human trafficking.

### Life in Las Vegas

Sometime shortly before Theo’s arrival in Las Vegas, Nevada, Boris moved there with his father. The Pavlikovsky family lived together in a largely empty suburban house similar to the Deckers' and Boris's father was seldom home.

Boris met Theo for the first time in English class, and they were properly introduced later after sitting together on the school bus. Because of their troubled home lives and feelings of separation from their peers, the couple quickly bonded. Within months, Boris was sleeping most nights beside Theo. They began to experiment heavily with drugs including alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogenics, and various prescription pills.

During one drunken night, while watching a movie together, Theo retrieves the stolen painting *The Goldfinch* from where it is hidden in his room and shows it to Boris. Unbeknownst to Theo (a blackout drunk) Boris later steals the painting from him and swaps it out with his Civics textbook.

Months into the development of their close-knit relationship, Boris meets an older girl in his Civics class who he nicknames “Kotku”. At first, he and Theo only purchased drugs from her, but as Boris became infatuated with her, they eventually began to date. Kotku was a sexually promiscuous girl who already had an older boyfriend. Their turbulent relationship led to many quarrels, and a physical altercation in which Boris hit and bruised her, claiming that “she made me do it.”

The night of Theo’s departure from Las Vegas, Boris begged him to stay multiple times to no avail. As Theo's taxi arrived to take Theo to the nearest Greyhound station, Boris kissed him on the mouth in farewell, promising to catch up to him in New York in a few days. He never would, instead staying in Las Vegas and living temporarily with Theo’s late father's girlfriend, Xandra, selling cocaine and weed to his classmates and eventually becoming involved in the gang-related activities that would become his main source of income as an adult.

### Adult Life Abroad

At a young age, Boris supposedly impregnated a girl named Astrid, which he met while living in Sweden. Though he insisted she abort the child, Astrid refused and later gave birth to twins. Eventually, Boris married Astrid and they had a third child together, who was only six weeks old at the time of his reconnection with Theo in New York.

According to Boris, he became the "small business owner" of a Polish Housecleaning Service, which likely is a front for his larger-scale drug dealing endeavors. During this time, he uses the stolen *Goldfinch* painting as collateral in larger drug deals, until one deal in Miami runs askew and the painting is lost.

### New York and Amsterdam

Boris and Theo reconnect by chance in an Eastern European bar in New York. As they recount their stories in the time they have been apart, Boris reveals that he stole the painting from Theo back in Vegas, to Theo's horror.

Later, Boris arrives at Theo's engagement party to tell him that he has tracked the lost painting to Amsterdam, and convinces his old friend to accompany him to retrieve it. Once there, they manage to trick an inexperienced gang of art thieves to return the painting to them, but later run into an old enemy of his. Boris is shot in the shoulder during the ensuing chaos, but is later able to track the once-again-missing painting to an apartment and alert Art Police to it's location, leading to the recovery of several other missing paintings.

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> What if our badness and mistakes are the very thing that set our fate and bring us round to good? What if, for some of us, we can’t get there any other way?
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## Personality

He is a vivacious, unique, and in many ways comic character. He embraces life in a bold, reckless, full-throttle manner, encouraging Theo to drink, experiment with drugs, and shoplift. However, he is also a very kind, caring force in Theo’s life. He comforts Theo when he is having nightmares about the terrorist attack and stops him when he tries to put his suicidal thoughts into action.

## Relationships

### Theodore Decker

Boris and Theo are best friends almost from the very moment of their meeting. They bond over their unstable home lives, their troubled pasts and inconsistent conditions. They look after each other the best they can as young teens.

### Volodymyr Pavlikovsky

Boris has a troubled relationship with his father, including abuse and neglect.

### Naaman Silver

After Theo leaves Las Vegas, Boris ends up doing occasional work for Naaman Silver, or Mr. Silver as he calls him.

### Xandra Terrell

After his father departs from Vegas—shortly after Theo’s own departure—Boris has nowhere to stay, and ends up staying with Xandra. During a chilly night in Vegas, he knocked on Xandra’s door and begged for her to let him in. When she refused, he began to cry, and Xandra gave in, allowing him to stay. Later on, as adults, Boris does everything in his power to set things right with his old friend.

### Astrid

While living in Sweden, Boris impregnated a girl named Astrid. Though he encouraged her to get an abortion, she refused and later gave birth to three children. At an unknown time, they became married.

### Gyuri

Gyuri is Boris’ personal driver. He seems to not be very good at driving, considering his aggressive turns and speeding down the street, as Theo described.

### Horst

Horst is an intelligent and sensitive German-American man, and is involved with the The Goldfinch scandal. With the way Boris describes him, he seems to be a friend or acquaintance.

### Sascha

Sascha is Horst’s associate. Due to Sascha’s theft of The Goldfinch, Boris’ relationship seems to be hostile with him.