Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote is about the thought that friendship
can make a person take drastic measures in helping a friend. The setting is New
York City. The point of view is first person limited. Seen through the eyes of
the narrator, called “Fred” ( the main character ), who is a starting
writer. I enjoyed the story because it was very interesting to learn and
experience life in old New York. The story starts out, probably in the present
time, when “Fred”, who had now been living in New York for a great deal of
time, goes into his friend Joe Bell’s bar for a drink. There he learns the his
long time friend, Holly Golightly, is still alive by the use of a photograph
from an explorer which shows a wood carving made by a tribesman which bears the
uncanny resemblance to Holly. After this encounter, “Fred” begins to
reminisce about his past with Holly and all of their wild adventures.
“Fred’s” first meeting with Holly was through his apartment window. Holly
Golightly is a nineteen year-old self-sufficient woman. Some of her personality
traits are admirable, affectionate, while cold hearted. She is motivated in life
by striving for her purpose in life, which is to be rich and famous while
keeping her ego. She believes that love is not sexual. Holly, trying to escape a
horrible date, decides to visit her new downstairs neighbor. There she
practically tells “Fred” everything about her life. Fred was a name Holly
chose for “Fred” because he looked like her brother Fred, but since the
point of view is first person, the narrator refers to himself throughout the
story as “I”, but Holly generally refers to him as “Fred”. In
“Fred’s” apartment, Holly tells “Fred” about her involvement with a
imprisoned drug runner name Sally Tomato, a stock mobster character who pays
Holly to visit him. “Fred” learns more about Holly’s friends when he
attends a party hosted by Holly. There he meets Rusty Trawler, Holly’s current
boyfriend, Mag Wildwood, a cunning southern bell from Arkansas who would
eventually steal away Holly’s boyfriend. “Fred” realizes that Holly’s
friends are not the usual type of people that attend parties. Which is described
when Mag first enters the party and says in her southern accent, ” You
b-b-boys not vexed at me for butting in on your p-p-party.” Mag says this
even though everybody knows she was attending. The tone of the story is funny
and sarcastic. The action then abruptly changes when Holly, Mag, Rusty, and
Mag’s boyfriend, Jose` Ybarra-Jaegar, an eccentric Brazilian politician, went
on a trip to Brazil. There Mag steals Holly’s boyfriend, Rusty, and Holly does
the same with Mag’s boyfriend, Jose`. When they get back, Holly is detected by
her former husband. “Fred” then learns that Holly’s real name was Lulamae
Barnes before she was married as a child bride to a southerner named Doc
Golightly. Also, over this period of time, Holly’s involvement with Mag’s
ex-boyfriend drives Mag away. This is a very rough time for Holly. In order to
ease the pain and pass the time, Holly spend more and more time with “Fred”
drinking in Joe Bell’s bar. Joe Bell is a shy bar owner who conceals his
feeling about the rambunctious Holly. Even though he is in love with her, Joe
keeps his feelings hidden. Everything is fine till one day after horse-back
riding. After “Fred” has a sever accident, involving a horse and an abrupt
trip downtown, Holly is suddenly arrested for being involved in a drug triangle
with Sally Tomato. Apparently, Sally was using Holly to relay information from
him to his drug empire outside the prison walls. At this same moment “Fred”
finds out that Jose` is leaving Holly and he has to tell her the news. The theme
is reinforced in these chapters by the way the narrator goes out of his way to
do things for his friend, Holly. They go horse back riding, even though
“Fred” is uneasy about riding. They also decide to steal masks from a
costume store. After all of these horrible things happen to Holly, she decides
to break out of jail and move to Brazil. Even though “Fred” knows she is
probably never coming back, he still has hope for Holly’s return. And he
shares that hope with Joe Bell at his bar. “Fred” knows that he would have
done anything to keep his and Holly’s relationship strong. Which is the theme
of the story: friendship can make a person take drastic measures in helping a
friend. Holly Golightly was just a lost romantic. A surreal person living in a
real word. Dealing with real people and problems in an unorthodox way. So, if
you’re ever in Brazil and you happen to see Holly, tell her that “Fred” is
doing fine.
