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Pippa is a third motherless child in the novel. Her mother, Julia, Welty’s sister, died of cancer when Pippa was young, so she is raised by her beloved uncle Welty and his business partner, Hobie. Pippa is a talented flute player until the explosion injures her. She’s a sensitive, artistic individual who is left to deal with wounds and traumas from both her life and the explosion at far too young an age. Her inability to process her pain causes her to act out, which leads her aunt to send her away to a school for “troubled girls.” Because Pippa is the reason why Theo left his mother’s side in the museum, she, in a way, replaces Audrey in Theo’s heart. Pippa is alive, and he can focus his love and obsession on her, whereas his mother is dead. Because of their shared trauma, Pippa bonds with Theo in a unique way, and she’s genuinely heartbroken to leave Hobie and Theo when she leaves to live with her aunt. Pippa is a sophisticated and intelligent person whose life, like Theo’s, is permanently damaged by the bombing at the museum. Pippa changes a great deal throughout the novel, and like Theo, she grows to accept the direction of her life.

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