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Joseph Porter Pitt

2006-04-27T22:09:36Z

Jbowers: /* Work Cited */

[[Image:Joe.jpg|thumb|Patrick Wilson as Joe Pitt in the HBO production.]]
==Background==
Joe is a Mormon chief clerk for Justice Theodore Wilson of the Federal Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. He is married to Harper Pitt. They have a strained marriage, as Joe is a closeted homosexual. His Mormon beliefs, and what he perceives to be "right" have stood in his way of finding his true happiness. For most of his life, he has not admitted his homosexuality to his family, friends, wife, or even himself. He has been chosen by the great Roy Cohn to be his right-hand man in Washington, and Joe is faced with a tremendous crisis of conscience: He must decide whether he can transplant his paranoid, delusional wife, whom he is growing less and less fond of, to Washington, or leave her to pursue a career under Roy as one of the “Chief Elect” and proceed a homosexual lifestyle eventually devoid of his religion. Joe eventually becomes intimate with Louis. During the warm-up to their affair, Joe tells Louis of a dream he had in which the whole Hall of Justice had gone out of business: "I just wondered what a thing it would be ... if overnight everything you owe anything to, justice, or love, had really gone away. Free" (1:72). Both of whom think themselves unworthy of love. Joe feels guilty he has never lived up to the expectations of his father (mostly his being gay). Joe loves Louis, but it ultimately dumped by him for his association (and believed love affair) with Roy Cohn.Joe's path in the play (sufficient and strong to helpless and dependent) is in some ways the opposite of Prior's transformation. The play finally seems to abandon Joe, excluding him from its vision of the good society because of his ideology.

Joe's character is similar to Kushner himself. Jacobus states that Kushner said he had "fairly clear memories of being gay since I was six." Also, Jacobus states that Kushner did not "come out" until after he had tried psychotherapy to change his sexual orientation. Although Joe knew all along that he was a homosexual, he tried everything he could to change his sexual orientation because he thought it was the "right thing to do."

==Commentary==
One of the most significant moments for Joe is when he is telling Harper about a Bible story he would read as a child. The story is about Jacob wrestling the Angel. Joe and Harper have been discussing the possibility that Joe is a homosexual. He hasn't yet admitted to being a homosexual, but Harper already knows. Joe descripes his internal struggle as "fierce, and unfair" (Kushner 55). Jacob cannot be anything but human in the struggle against the supernatural, and Joe cannot be anything but homosexual, in spite of his struggle.

In the Bible Jacob is known as a deceiver; he deceives his brother into giving him his birthright for a bowl of soup. His brother is hungry and Jacob preys on his weakness (Genesis 25). Likewise, he preys on Harper's weakness. She is described as a valium addict and agoraphobic, and Joe uses this to his advantage. Because Harper doesn't leave her house, she doesn't find out about his homosexuality until her hallucination with Prior.

== Work Cited =

*Enotes.com- [http://www.enotes.com/angels-america/8614 Angels in America]

*The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, 2001.

*Rev. of Angels in America. SparkNotes. 23 Apr. 2006 [http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/angels/terms/char_3.html Joe Pitt]

*Rev. of Angels in America. nursingadvocacy. 23 Apr. 2006 [http://www.nursingadvocacy.org/media/films/angels.html Joe Pitt]

*Jacobus, Lee A., Ed. ''The Bedford Introduction to Drama.'' 3rd Ed. Boston: Bedford, 1997.

*Rev. of Angels in America. LiteraryResourceCenter. 24 Apr. 2006 [http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.maconstate.edu/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=maco12153&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=9&ste=16&stab=512&tab=2&tbst=arp&ai=U13012098&n=10&docNum=H1100064671&ST=tony+kushner&bConts=16047 Literary Resource Center]

*Rev. of Angels in America. LiteraryResourceCenter. 23 Apr. 2006 [http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.maconstate.edu/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=maco12153&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=10&ste=16&stab=512&tab=2&tbst=arp&ai=U13012098&n=10&docNum=H1100064672&ST=tony+kushner&bConts=16047 Literary Resource Center 2]

Joseph Porter Pitt

2006-04-27T22:03:22Z

Jbowers: /* Commentary */

[[Image:Joe.jpg|thumb|Patrick Wilson as Joe Pitt in the HBO production.]]
==Background==
Joe is a Mormon chief clerk for Justice Theodore Wilson of the Federal Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. He is married to Harper Pitt. They have a strained marriage, as Joe is a closeted homosexual. His Mormon beliefs, and what he perceives to be "right" have stood in his way of finding his true happiness. For most of his life, he has not admitted his homosexuality to his family, friends, wife, or even himself. He has been chosen by the great Roy Cohn to be his right-hand man in Washington, and Joe is faced with a tremendous crisis of conscience: He must decide whether he can transplant his paranoid, delusional wife, whom he is growing less and less fond of, to Washington, or leave her to pursue a career under Roy as one of the “Chief Elect” and proceed a homosexual lifestyle eventually devoid of his religion. Joe eventually becomes intimate with Louis. During the warm-up to their affair, Joe tells Louis of a dream he had in which the whole Hall of Justice had gone out of business: "I just wondered what a thing it would be ... if overnight everything you owe anything to, justice, or love, had really gone away. Free" (1:72). Both of whom think themselves unworthy of love. Joe feels guilty he has never lived up to the expectations of his father (mostly his being gay). Joe loves Louis, but it ultimately dumped by him for his association (and believed love affair) with Roy Cohn.Joe's path in the play (sufficient and strong to helpless and dependent) is in some ways the opposite of Prior's transformation. The play finally seems to abandon Joe, excluding him from its vision of the good society because of his ideology.

Joe's character is similar to Kushner himself. Jacobus states that Kushner said he had "fairly clear memories of being gay since I was six." Also, Jacobus states that Kushner did not "come out" until after he had tried psychotherapy to change his sexual orientation. Although Joe knew all along that he was a homosexual, he tried everything he could to change his sexual orientation because he thought it was the "right thing to do."

==Commentary==
One of the most significant moments for Joe is when he is telling Harper about a Bible story he would read as a child. The story is about Jacob wrestling the Angel. Joe and Harper have been discussing the possibility that Joe is a homosexual. He hasn't yet admitted to being a homosexual, but Harper already knows. Joe descripes his internal struggle as "fierce, and unfair" (Kushner 55). Jacob cannot be anything but human in the struggle against the supernatural, and Joe cannot be anything but homosexual, in spite of his struggle.

In the Bible Jacob is known as a deceiver; he deceives his brother into giving him his birthright for a bowl of soup. His brother is hungry and Jacob preys on his weakness (Genesis 25). Likewise, he preys on Harper's weakness. She is described as a valium addict and agoraphobic, and Joe uses this to his advantage. Because Harper doesn't leave her house, she doesn't find out about his homosexuality until her hallucination with Prior.

== Work Cited ==
*Enotes.com- [http://www.enotes.com/angels-america/8614 Angels in America]

*Rev. of Angels in America. SparkNotes. 23 Apr. 2006 [http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/angels/terms/char_3.html Joe Pitt]

*Rev. of Angels in America. nursingadvocacy. 23 Apr. 2006 [http://www.nursingadvocacy.org/media/films/angels.html Joe Pitt]

*Jacobus, Lee A., Ed. ''The Bedford Introduction to Drama.'' 3rd Ed. Boston: Bedford, 1997.

*Rev. of Angels in America. LiteraryResourceCenter. 24 Apr. 2006 [http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.maconstate.edu/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=maco12153&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=9&ste=16&stab=512&tab=2&tbst=arp&ai=U13012098&n=10&docNum=H1100064671&ST=tony+kushner&bConts=16047 Literary Resource Center]

*Rev. of Angels in America. LiteraryResourceCenter. 23 Apr. 2006 [http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.maconstate.edu/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=maco12153&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=10&ste=16&stab=512&tab=2&tbst=arp&ai=U13012098&n=10&docNum=H1100064672&ST=tony+kushner&bConts=16047 Literary Resource Center 2]

Joseph Porter Pitt

2006-04-27T21:49:11Z

Jbowers: /* Background */

Roy Cohn

2006-04-27T21:30:36Z

Jbowers: /* Commentary */

http://www.logoonline.com/sitewide/promoimages/a/angels_in_america/characters/roy/150x200.jpg http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcohn.jpg

The character of Roy Cohn serves as vehicle for Kushner's most telling act of counterhistory. As a "Saint of the Right", Cohn represents a point of continuity between the anticommunism of the 1950's and the Republic ascendancy of the Reagan 1980s (Garner 5).

Kushner employs a quite different brand of humor with the character of Cohn, whose gleefully bitter corruption is both comic and frightening. Cohn is a rapacious predator who is first discovered in his command module juggling phone calls and wishing he had eight arms like an octopus. Roy's self-loathing is his most unsettling quality, vividly shown in his scathing denial of his homosexuality: "Like all labels they tell you one thing and one thing only: where does an individual so identified fit in the food chain,in the pecking order?" Cohn represents a kind of trickle-down morality in ''Angels in America''; he is a symbol of Kushner's notion that if there is corruption, hypocrisy, and bad faith at the top, it will ultimately seep down to each individual in the society (Layman 10).

Like an incipient cancer, Cohn's corruption, however destructive, is nonetheless insidious. It infiltrates and draws on the body's internal systems to spread, eventually overtaking and destroying the host--Cohn or the law.Although he corrupts the method by which judges decide cases (by sleeping with them and the like), he does not try to have cases decided any other way (Quinn 3).

Cohn's deviation from the jurisprudential norm is indeed like that of a cancer, ravenous in its hunger, growing and operating at a rate independent of the rest of the body of which it is a part, destined to overtake and kill the very body that sustains it. But the corrupt, diseased, tumorous nature of Cohn's lawyering also has important textual and thematic links with the physical infection and ensuing "corruption" of Cohn's flesh and blood with AIDS (Quinn).

==Commentary==
One of the main characters in ''Angels in America'', Roy Cohn, exhibits [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ hubris]. From the Greek, [[hubris]] is usually defined as excessive pride and often refers to a reckless disregard for the rights of another person resulting in some kind of social degradation for the victim.

Hubris is a common theme in Greek [[tragedy|tragedies]] and [[myth|mythology]], whose stories often featured characters displaying ''hubris'' and subsequently being punished for it. In Greek law, it most often refers to violent outrage wreaked by the powerful upon the weak. Cohn uses his position and "clout" to get ahead.

When confronted by his doctor, Henry, he explains his role as he saw it: "Now to someone who does not understand this, homosexual is what I am because I have sex with men . . . Homosexuals are not men that sleep with other men . . . Homosexuals...have zero clout...I have clout" (Kushner 51). From this perspective, Cohn not only dominates those around him, but he dominates the society in which he lives. He has the power to make and break the reputations of those around him.

Roy shows no compassion to anyone throughout the screenplay, even when he is on his death-bed. His cold-heartedness and manipulative ways help make him an easy target for hatred. However Roy was doing what he felt had to do in order to succeed, in order to accomplish his goals, in order to get what he wanted. It is for this reason that Roy Cohn is the most symbolic character in this play, for what he epitomizes - America, the capitalist land of the social cheeseburger.

http://www.hbo.com/films/angelsinamerica/img/photos/photo_roys_closer.jpg

Cohn might be compared to [[Oedipus Rex|Oedipus]]. Oedipus for example, feigns compassion and understanding with his people suffering from the plague in order to maintain his political position. When he is addressing the crowd, he makes his own suffering seem far greater than any other: "Well I know you are sick to death, all of you, but sick as you are, not one is sick as I. Your pain strikes each of you alone, each in the confines of himself, no other. But my spirit grieves for the city, for myself and all of you" (ll. 75-76). Oedipus believes that his triumphs exceed any of those made by his counter parts. This behavior is key to hubris; his arrogance allows him to believe that he is greater than any God.

Cohn has similar moments of superiority and feigned compassion. When discussing his clout, Cohn brags that he can reach the first lady in five minutes if necessary, showing his affluence and span of his reputation. Sometime after finding out that he has AIDS, Cohn goes to a bar to pick up a man with the intent of sex. This reckless behavior shows his disregard for others, putting his sexual needs above anyone else shows his selfish spirit. He had no regard for others, as long as he is able to use them.

As represented in all great Greek tragedies, hubris is the downfall of the character. As we read more about the progression of Cohn, we see how far his affluence takes him, allowing him to have access to ATZ during a clinical trial before anyone else. In the end, Cohn dies, cloutless and the same as everyone else.

http://www.hbo.com/films/angelsinamerica/img/photos/photo_roy_hospita.jpg

Cohn was chosen to be a part of this play because aided McCarthy during the anit-communist hysteria in the 50's and symbolizes power and selfishness. While aiding McCarthy in the Ethel Rosenberg trial, Cohn helped to secure the death penalty for this "little jewish [mama]" (Kushner 114). In the play, Roy states that he "fucking [hates] traitors" (Kushner 114), yet he disregards the law to make sure that Ethel Rosenberg dies. He uses her communist ties to justify his actions. He perceives her as a traitor, but he is the "Judas" of the play. In addition to speaking with contempt for her and other jews in the play, he is also derisive of homosexuals in spite of being one. He continues to declare that he is not a homosexual, but a "heterosexual man...who fucks around with guys" (Kushner 52). He was a contradictory man because although he was a "closet homo" he helped in the persecution of gays (Jacobus 1635).

==Study Questiones==
1. Why would Roy find it necessary to have Ethel Rosenburg killed? Could Roy have felt threatened by the loss of power acheived with Socialism?

2. Do you think Roy could have changed, even if he wanted to?

3. Do we feel justification when Roy dies painfully and disembarred? If yes, isn't that kind of a "Roy-esk" quality, if you will?

4. Do you think putting his career at risk is the only reason that Roy Cohn would not call himself a homosexual?

5. Why do you think it is so important for Roy to live a life that is exactly like the life his father lived?

6. Explain Roy's statement "I fucking hate traitors." Is there irony in this statement?

7. What other characters in the play who act as traitors?

8. How does Kushner use these Characters to demonstrate themes of betrayal, justice and redemption?

==External Resource==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Cohn Roy Cohn]

*[http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.maconstate.edu/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=maco12153&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=1&ste=6&tab=1&tbst=arp&ai=U13021098&n=10&docNum=H1000019341&ST=Roy+Cohn&bConts=2191 Roy M. Cohn]

=Works Cited=
*Jacobus, Lee A., Ed. ''The Bedford Introduction to Drama.'' 3rd Ed. Boston: Bedford, 1997.

Roy Cohn

2006-04-27T21:12:38Z

Jbowers: /* Study Questiones */

http://www.logoonline.com/sitewide/promoimages/a/angels_in_america/characters/roy/150x200.jpg http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcohn.jpg

The character of Roy Cohn serves as vehicle for Kushner's most telling act of counterhistory. As a "Saint of the Right", Cohn represents a point of continuity between the anticommunism of the 1950's and the Republic ascendancy of the Reagan 1980s (Garner 5).

Kushner employs a quite different brand of humor with the character of Cohn, whose gleefully bitter corruption is both comic and frightening. Cohn is a rapacious predator who is first discovered in his command module juggling phone calls and wishing he had eight arms like an octopus. Roy's self-loathing is his most unsettling quality, vividly shown in his scathing denial of his homosexuality: "Like all labels they tell you one thing and one thing only: where does an individual so identified fit in the food chain,in the pecking order?" Cohn represents a kind of trickle-down morality in ''Angels in America''; he is a symbol of Kushner's notion that if there is corruption, hypocrisy, and bad faith at the top, it will ultimately seep down to each individual in the society (Layman 10).

Like an incipient cancer, Cohn's corruption, however destructive, is nonetheless insidious. It infiltrates and draws on the body's internal systems to spread, eventually overtaking and destroying the host--Cohn or the law.Although he corrupts the method by which judges decide cases (by sleeping with them and the like), he does not try to have cases decided any other way (Quinn 3).

Cohn's deviation from the jurisprudential norm is indeed like that of a cancer, ravenous in its hunger, growing and operating at a rate independent of the rest of the body of which it is a part, destined to overtake and kill the very body that sustains it. But the corrupt, diseased, tumorous nature of Cohn's lawyering also has important textual and thematic links with the physical infection and ensuing "corruption" of Cohn's flesh and blood with AIDS (Quinn).

==Commentary==
One of the main characters in ''Angels in America'', Roy Cohn, exhibits [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ hubris]. From the Greek, [[hubris]] is usually defined as excessive pride and often refers to a reckless disregard for the rights of another person resulting in some kind of social degradation for the victim.

Hubris is a common theme in Greek [[tragedy|tragedies]] and [[myth|mythology]], whose stories often featured characters displaying ''hubris'' and subsequently being punished for it. In Greek law, it most often refers to violent outrage wreaked by the powerful upon the weak. Cohn uses his position and "clout" to get ahead.

When confronted by his doctor, Henry, he explains his role as he saw it: "Now to someone who does not understand this, homosexual is what I am because I have sex with men . . . Homosexuals are not men that sleep with other men . . . Homosexuals...have zero clout...I have clout" (Kushner 51). From this perspective, Cohn not only dominates those around him, but he dominates the society in which he lives. He has the power to make and break the reputations of those around him.

Roy shows no compassion to anyone throughout the screenplay, even when he is on his death-bed. His cold-heartedness and manipulative ways help make him an easy target for hatred. However Roy was doing what he felt had to do in order to succeed, in order to accomplish his goals, in order to get what he wanted. It is for this reason that Roy Cohn is the most symbolic character in this play, for what he epitomizes - America, the capitalist land of the social cheeseburger.

http://www.hbo.com/films/angelsinamerica/img/photos/photo_roys_closer.jpg

Cohn might be compared to [[Oedipus Rex|Oedipus]]. Oedipus for example, feigns compassion and understanding with his people suffering from the plague in order to maintain his political position. When he is addressing the crowd, he makes his own suffering seem far greater than any other: "Well I know you are sick to death, all of you, but sick as you are, not one is sick as I. Your pain strikes each of you alone, each in the confines of himself, no other. But my spirit grieves for the city, for myself and all of you" (ll. 75-76). Oedipus believes that his triumphs exceed any of those made by his counter parts. This behavior is key to hubris; his arrogance allows him to believe that he is greater than any God.

Cohn has similar moments of superiority and feigned compassion. When discussing his clout, Cohn brags that he can reach the first lady in five minutes if necessary, showing his affluence and span of his reputation. Sometime after finding out that he has AIDS, Cohn goes to a bar to pick up a man with the intent of sex. This reckless behavior shows his disregard for others, putting his sexual needs above anyone else shows his selfish spirit. He had no regard for others, as long as he is able to use them.

As represented in all great Greek tragedies, hubris is the downfall of the character. As we read more about the progression of Cohn, we see how far his affluence takes him, allowing him to have access to ATZ during a clinical trial before anyone else. In the end, Cohn dies, cloutless and the same as everyone else.

http://www.hbo.com/films/angelsinamerica/img/photos/photo_roy_hospita.jpg

Cohn was chosen to be a part of this play because aided McCarthy during the anit-communist hysteria in the 50's and symbolizes power and selfishness. Also, he was a contradictory man because although he was a "closet homo" he helped in the persecution of gays (Jacobus 1635).

==Study Questiones==
1. Why would Roy find it necessary to have Ethel Rosenburg killed? Could Roy have felt threatened by the loss of power acheived with Socialism?

2. Do you think Roy could have changed, even if he wanted to?

3. Do we feel justification when Roy dies painfully and disembarred? If yes, isn't that kind of a "Roy-esk" quality, if you will?

4. Do you think putting his career at risk is the only reason that Roy Cohn would not call himself a homosexual?

5. Why do you think it is so important for Roy to live a life that is exactly like the life his father lived?

6. Explain Roy's statement "I fucking hate traitors." Is there irony in this statement?

7. What other characters in the play who act as traitors?

8. How does Kushner use these Characters to demonstrate themes of betrayal, justice and redemption?

==External Resource==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Cohn Roy Cohn]

*[http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.maconstate.edu/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=maco12153&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=1&ste=6&tab=1&tbst=arp&ai=U13021098&n=10&docNum=H1000019341&ST=Roy+Cohn&bConts=2191 Roy M. Cohn]

=Works Cited=
*Jacobus, Lee A., Ed. ''The Bedford Introduction to Drama.'' 3rd Ed. Boston: Bedford, 1997.

Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 12

2006-03-24T02:36:10Z

Jbowers: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
Against both the narrator and Joe Bell's wishes, Holly decides to leave for Rio, Brazil.

Holly waits at the bar while Joe Bell delivers her request to the narrator to gather her things, including her cat, and bring them to her at Joe Bell's bar. Though refusing to partake in a drink to Holly's departure, Bell arranges for a limousine to take Holly to the airport.

On the way to the airport, Holly drops the cat off on a street block in Spanish Harlem, and leaves him there. At a stop light a block away, she realizes that she and the cat ''do'' belong to one another. She jumps out of the car and runs back to look for him. When she is unable to find him, the narrator promises her that he will find and take care of the cat. Just before Holly gets into the limousine, she tells the narrator that she is scared. "I'm very scared Buster. Yes, at last. Because it could go on forever. Not knowing whats yours until you've thrown it away." (Capote 109) Holly "sinks" back in the limousine seat and leaves for the airport to go to Brazil. That was the last time the narrator saw Holly.

==Notes==
*'''Squall''' (104) - A brief sudden violent windstorm, often accompanied by rain or snow.
*'''Inclement''' (105) - severe, unrelenting; cruel
*'''Poignant''' (105) - Neat, skillful
*'''Lark''' (105) - A carefree or spirited adventure.
*[http://lionreference.chadwyck.com/searchFulltext.do?id=R01659106&divLevel=0&queryId=../session/1140713136_4425&area=abell&forward=critref_ft '''Nancy's Landing'''] (105)- Fictional town created by Capote. "Nancy's Landing," serves as Capote's code phrase for a gay resort, a make-believe, southern Fire Island or Provincetown. Thus, the narrator's coy rejoinder that the reader should "[n]ever mind why" he made the trip appears as a subtle move to direct attention away from his self-confession.
*'''Bon voyage''' (106)- French, literally translated as "good journey".
*'''Oompahpah''' (106)- A repeating rhythmic bass accompaniment.
*'''Rhapsodic''' (106)- Emotional and extravagant music.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Harlem'''Spanish Harlem'''](107)- Also known as East Harlem or El Barrio, a neighborhood in northeastern part of the borough of Manhattan, one of the largest predominantly Hispanic communities in New York City. Since the 1950s, it has been populated by a large number of people of Puerto Rican descent, sometimes called Nuyoricans. In recent years the neighborhood has also become home to many Mexican American immigrants.
*'''Hope Chest''' (106)- A chest used by a young woman for clothing and household goods, such as linens and silver, in anticipation of marriage.
*'''Slap dash''' (107) - In a reckless haphazard manner; hasty and careless
*'''The fat woman''' (109) - Death

==Commentary==
Friday night, the day before departure, is described as ‘red,’ perhaps a parallel to the mean reds Holly must be feeling in anticipation of her journey to Brazil. Saturday itself, however, was under such a heavy rain it was questionable that a plane could take off. It is a fine forecast and foreshadowing of her grief to follow in this chapter.

Holly, against the wishes of the narrator and Joe Bell, continued to make her plans to leave. After being discharged from the hospital, she promptly went to a bank and then to Joe Bell’s bar. Bell himself delivered Holly’s message to the narrator, requesting that he gather the majority of her things (her jewelry, guitar, toothbrushes and stuff, bottle of hundred-year-old brandy, and the cat) from her apartment since it was under surveillance by police, reporters, and/or other interested parties, suggesting that perhaps they could be linked to Tomato.

On the way to Bell’s from the brownstone, the narrator reminisces about a time he walked nearly 500 miles from New Orleans to Nancy’s Landing, Mississippi, referencing it as a “light-hearted lark compared to the journey to Joe Bell’s bar” (p.105). We understand that the walk from the brownstone to the bar would be stressful; partly because the paper sacks he carried were falling apart and items were falling to the ground, but also because he feared being caught aiding an ‘outlaw.’ Comparing Nancy’s Landing to such a trying time suggests there is more to be known regarding the nature of his trip. Per The Explicator, “According to A Dictionary of the Underworld, "Nancy" refers either to the posterior or to "an effeminate man, especially a passive homosexual." "Nancy's Landing," then serves as Capote's code phrase for a gay resort...” The narrator’s lack of explanation for his journey is strongly suggestive of his homosexuality which plays into one of the underlying themes of BaT.

Though vehemently refusing to drink the hundred-year-old brandy with the narrator and Holly, Bell did call for a limousine to take Holly to the airport. Holly had the chauffer stop on a curb in Spanish Harlem where she stepped out of the limousine with the cat. She commences to have a one way conversation with the cat, seemingly trying to convince herself more than anyone, that this was the right place for him. She dropped him to the ground, and even after yelling and stomping her foot, he merely looked at her and rubbed against her leg. She jumped into the limousine only to go a block, and at a traffic light opened the door and ran back to attempt to find him. She realizes that they did belong to one another. Although Holly holds contempt for cages, the relationship with her cat is "symbolic of Holly's divided beliefs... (p.86, Garson)" She realizes that they did belong to one another, and illustrates how she longs to settle down and have a home. There is also a touch of irony in this situation; according to Garson her reason for ridding herself and the treatment of the cat "parallel Jose's treatment of Holly" (p86).

Unable to find the lost cat, the narrator promises Holly that he will find the cat and take care of him. She is not comforted by this, she instead “confesses her most private, deep-seated fear of what her life will always be: “Not knowing what’s yours until you’ve thrown it away. (p 86, Garson)” This demonstrates the author's wishful thinking. Wouldn't it be grand if everyone who left us felt remorse, especially our parents? The author capote was frequently abandoned as a child.(Clark 14) Here he gives Holly appropiate remorse for leaving a cat to fend for itself.

One of the underlying themes presented in this section is a heightened awareness of homosexuality of the narrator and Joe Bell. The first example is the narrator's reference to Nancy's Landing in comparison to his trip to Joe Bell's bar:

''"Never mind why, but once I walked from New Orleans to Nancy's Landing, Mississippi, just under five hundred miles. It was a light-hearted lark compared to the journey to Joe Bell's bar" (105).''

Nancy's Landing is a fictional place, a gay resort invented by Capote. The fact that he doesn't give a reason for the journey suggest that he intends to put the idea out there, without revealing too much about himself.

Joe Bell's homosexuality is apparant in the list of his passions, which include hockey, soap operas, and flower arranging. He also appreciates horses and baseball. His interest are a bit confusing, but shows that people cannot be stereotyped. All the characteristics suggest that he is gay, but the idea of horses and baseball as a key to heterosexuality presents cofusion to the reader.

"Our Gal Sunday (a soap serial he had listened to for fifteen years), and Gilbert and Sullivan," both of which indicate less stereotypically masculine aspects to his character. Capote develops the reference to Gilbert and Sullivan further, noting that "[Bell] claims to be related to one or the other, I can't remember which" (4). Since Sullivan is rumored to have been a homosexual because of the many coded references to sexual partners in his diaries, the passage slyly hints that the bartender is part of Sullivan's "family," a fellow gay man to his beloved composer." (Pugh)

==Study Questions==
#What are the five items that Holly requests from her apartment?
#What does the narrator use to transport the cat?
#How is Holly transported to the airport?
#Who arranges the transportation to the airport for Holly?
#Where is the cat abandoned?
#What is Joe Bell's reaction to the news that Holly is leaving?
#Where is Holly planning to go?
#What does Holly ask the narrator to do after she goes back and cannot find her cat?
#Why does Holly feel remorse about leaving the cat?
#Does she feel remorseful for leaving anyone else?
#What does the narrator think when he finds the cat?

==External Resources==
*Pugh, Tison.[http://lionreference.chadwyck.com/searchFulltext.do?id=R01659106&divLevel=0&queryId=../session/1140713136_4425&area=abell&forward=critref_ft Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.] Explicator (Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, Washington, DC) (61:1) [Fall 2002] , p.51-53

*Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 22 Mar. 2006 [http://dictionary.reference.com/<Dictionary.com>].

==Works Cited==
*Capote, Truman. '''Breakfast at Tiffany's'''. New York: Vintage Books. 1993.

*Clarke, Gerald. '''Capote: A Biography'''. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1988.

*Garson, Helen S. '''Truman Capote'''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc., 1980.

----
[[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 11|Section eleven]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 13|Section thirteen]]

[[Category:Literature]]

Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 12

2006-03-24T02:35:09Z

Jbowers: /* Study Questions */

==Summary==
Against both the narrator and Joe Bell's wishes, Holly decides to leave for Rio, Brazil.

Holly waits at the bar while Joe Bell delivers her request to the narrator to gather her things, including her cat, and bring them to her at Joe Bell's bar. Though refusing to partake in a drink to Holly's departure, Bell arranges for a limousine to take Holly to the airport.

On the way to the airport, Holly drops the cat off on a street block in Spanish Harlem, and leaves him there. At a stop light a block away, she realizes that she and the cat ''do'' belong to one another. She jumps out of the car and runs back to look for him. When she is unable to find him, the narrator promises her that he will find and take care of the cat. Just before Holly gets into the limousine, she tells the narrator that she is scared. "I'm very scared Buster. Yes, at last. Because it could go on forever. Not knowing whats yours until you've thrown it away." (Capote 109) Holly "sinks" back in the limousine seat and leaves for the airport to go to Brazil. That was the last time the narrator saw Holly.

==Notes==
*'''Squall''' (104) - A brief sudden violent windstorm, often accompanied by rain or snow.
*'''Inclement''' (105) - severe, unrelenting; cruel
*'''Poignant''' (105) - Neat, skillful
*'''Lark''' (105) - A carefree or spirited adventure.
*[http://lionreference.chadwyck.com/searchFulltext.do?id=R01659106&divLevel=0&queryId=../session/1140713136_4425&area=abell&forward=critref_ft '''Nancy's Landing'''] (105)- Fictional town created by Capote. "Nancy's Landing," serves as Capote's code phrase for a gay resort, a make-believe, southern Fire Island or Provincetown. Thus, the narrator's coy rejoinder that the reader should "[n]ever mind why" he made the trip appears as a subtle move to direct attention away from his self-confession.
*'''Bon voyage''' (106)- French, literally translated as "good journey".
*'''Oompahpah''' (106)- A repeating rhythmic bass accompaniment.
*'''Rhapsodic''' (106)- Emotional and extravagant music.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Harlem'''Spanish Harlem'''](107)- Also known as East Harlem or El Barrio, a neighborhood in northeastern part of the borough of Manhattan, one of the largest predominantly Hispanic communities in New York City. Since the 1950s, it has been populated by a large number of people of Puerto Rican descent, sometimes called Nuyoricans. In recent years the neighborhood has also become home to many Mexican American immigrants.
*'''Hope Chest''' (106)- A chest used by a young woman for clothing and household goods, such as linens and silver, in anticipation of marriage.
*'''Slap dash''' (107) - In a reckless haphazard manner; hasty and careless
*'''The fat woman''' (109) - Death

==Commentary==
Friday night, the day before departure, is described as ‘red,’ perhaps a parallel to the mean reds Holly must be feeling in anticipation of her journey to Brazil. Saturday itself, however, was under such a heavy rain it was questionable that a plane could take off. It is a fine forecast and foreshadowing of her grief to follow in this chapter.

Holly, against the wishes of the narrator and Joe Bell, continued to make her plans to leave. After being discharged from the hospital, she promptly went to a bank and then to Joe Bell’s bar. Bell himself delivered Holly’s message to the narrator, requesting that he gather the majority of her things (her jewelry, guitar, toothbrushes and stuff, bottle of hundred-year-old brandy, and the cat) from her apartment since it was under surveillance by police, reporters, and/or other interested parties, suggesting that perhaps they could be linked to Tomato.

On the way to Bell’s from the brownstone, the narrator reminisces about a time he walked nearly 500 miles from New Orleans to Nancy’s Landing, Mississippi, referencing it as a “light-hearted lark compared to the journey to Joe Bell’s bar” (p.105). We understand that the walk from the brownstone to the bar would be stressful; partly because the paper sacks he carried were falling apart and items were falling to the ground, but also because he feared being caught aiding an ‘outlaw.’ Comparing Nancy’s Landing to such a trying time suggests there is more to be known regarding the nature of his trip. Per The Explicator, “According to A Dictionary of the Underworld, "Nancy" refers either to the posterior or to "an effeminate man, especially a passive homosexual." "Nancy's Landing," then serves as Capote's code phrase for a gay resort...” The narrator’s lack of explanation for his journey is strongly suggestive of his homosexuality which plays into one of the underlying themes of BaT.

Though vehemently refusing to drink the hundred-year-old brandy with the narrator and Holly, Bell did call for a limousine to take Holly to the airport. Holly had the chauffer stop on a curb in Spanish Harlem where she stepped out of the limousine with the cat. She commences to have a one way conversation with the cat, seemingly trying to convince herself more than anyone, that this was the right place for him. She dropped him to the ground, and even after yelling and stomping her foot, he merely looked at her and rubbed against her leg. She jumped into the limousine only to go a block, and at a traffic light opened the door and ran back to attempt to find him. She realizes that they did belong to one another. Although Holly holds contempt for cages, the relationship with her cat is "symbolic of Holly's divided beliefs... (p.86, Garson)" She realizes that they did belong to one another, and illustrates how she longs to settle down and have a home. There is also a touch of irony in this situation; according to Garson her reason for ridding herself and the treatment of the cat "parallel Jose's treatment of Holly" (p86).

Unable to find the lost cat, the narrator promises Holly that he will find the cat and take care of him. She is not comforted by this, she instead “confesses her most private, deep-seated fear of what her life will always be: “Not knowing what’s yours until you’ve thrown it away. (p 86, Garson)” This demonstrates the author's wishful thinking. Wouldn't it be grand if everyone who left us felt remorse, especially our parents? The author capote was frequently abandoned as a child.(Clark 14) Here he gives Holly appropiate remorse for leaving a cat to fend for itself.

One of the underlying themes presented in this section is a heightened awareness of homosexuality of the narrator and Joe Bell. The first example is the narrator's reference to Nancy's Landing in comparison to his trip to Joe Bell's bar:

''"Never mind why, but once I walked from New Orleans to Nancy's Landing, Mississippi, just under five hundred miles. It was a light-hearted lark compared to the journey to Joe Bell's bar" (105).''

Nancy's Landing is a fictional place, a gay resort invented by Capote. The fact that he doesn't give a reason for the journey suggest that he intends to put the idea out there, without revealing too much about himself.

Joe Bell's homosexuality is apparant in the list of his passions, which include hockey, soap operas, and flower arranging. He also appreciates horses and baseball. His interest are a bit confusing, but shows that people cannot be stereotyped. All the characteristics suggest that he is gay, but the idea of horses and baseball as a key to heterosexuality presents cofusion to the reader.

"Our Gal Sunday (a soap serial he had listened to for fifteen years), and Gilbert and Sullivan," both of which indicate less stereotypically masculine aspects to his character. Capote develops the reference to Gilbert and Sullivan further, noting that "[Bell] claims to be related to one or the other, I can't remember which" (4). Since Sullivan is rumored to have been a homosexual because of the many coded references to sexual partners in his diaries, the passage slyly hints that the bartender is part of Sullivan's "family," a fellow gay man to his beloved composer." (Pugh)

==Study Questions==
#What are the five items that Holly requests from her apartment?
#What does the narrator use to transport the cat?
#How is Holly transported to the airport?
#Who arranges the transportation to the airport for Holly?
#Where is the cat abandoned?
#What is Joe Bell's reaction to the news that Holly is leaving?
#Where is Holly planning to go?
#What does Holly ask the narrator to do after she goes back and cannot find her cat?
#Why does Holly feel remorse about leaving the cat?
#Does she feel remorseful for leaving anyone else?
#What does the narrator think when he finds the cat?

==External Resources==
*Pugh, Tison.[http://lionreference.chadwyck.com/searchFulltext.do?id=R01659106&divLevel=0&queryId=../session/1140713136_4425&area=abell&forward=critref_ft Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.] Explicator (Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, Washington, DC) (61:1) [Fall 2002] , p.51-53

*Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 22 Mar. 2006 [http://dictionary.reference.com/<Dictionary.com>].

==Works Cited==
*Capote, Truman. '''Breakfast at Tiffany's'''. New York: Vintage Books. 1993.

*Clarke, Gerald. Capote: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1988.

*Garson, Helen S. '''Truman Capote'''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc., 1980.

----
[[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 11|Section eleven]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 13|Section thirteen]]

[[Category:Literature]]

Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 12

2006-03-24T02:33:03Z

Jbowers: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
Against both the narrator and Joe Bell's wishes, Holly decides to leave for Rio, Brazil.

Holly waits at the bar while Joe Bell delivers her request to the narrator to gather her things, including her cat, and bring them to her at Joe Bell's bar. Though refusing to partake in a drink to Holly's departure, Bell arranges for a limousine to take Holly to the airport.

On the way to the airport, Holly drops the cat off on a street block in Spanish Harlem, and leaves him there. At a stop light a block away, she realizes that she and the cat ''do'' belong to one another. She jumps out of the car and runs back to look for him. When she is unable to find him, the narrator promises her that he will find and take care of the cat. Just before Holly gets into the limousine, she tells the narrator that she is scared. "I'm very scared Buster. Yes, at last. Because it could go on forever. Not knowing whats yours until you've thrown it away." (Capote 109) Holly "sinks" back in the limousine seat and leaves for the airport to go to Brazil. That was the last time the narrator saw Holly.

==Notes==
*'''Squall''' (104) - A brief sudden violent windstorm, often accompanied by rain or snow.
*'''Inclement''' (105) - severe, unrelenting; cruel
*'''Poignant''' (105) - Neat, skillful
*'''Lark''' (105) - A carefree or spirited adventure.
*[http://lionreference.chadwyck.com/searchFulltext.do?id=R01659106&divLevel=0&queryId=../session/1140713136_4425&area=abell&forward=critref_ft '''Nancy's Landing'''] (105)- Fictional town created by Capote. "Nancy's Landing," serves as Capote's code phrase for a gay resort, a make-believe, southern Fire Island or Provincetown. Thus, the narrator's coy rejoinder that the reader should "[n]ever mind why" he made the trip appears as a subtle move to direct attention away from his self-confession.
*'''Bon voyage''' (106)- French, literally translated as "good journey".
*'''Oompahpah''' (106)- A repeating rhythmic bass accompaniment.
*'''Rhapsodic''' (106)- Emotional and extravagant music.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Harlem'''Spanish Harlem'''](107)- Also known as East Harlem or El Barrio, a neighborhood in northeastern part of the borough of Manhattan, one of the largest predominantly Hispanic communities in New York City. Since the 1950s, it has been populated by a large number of people of Puerto Rican descent, sometimes called Nuyoricans. In recent years the neighborhood has also become home to many Mexican American immigrants.
*'''Hope Chest''' (106)- A chest used by a young woman for clothing and household goods, such as linens and silver, in anticipation of marriage.
*'''Slap dash''' (107) - In a reckless haphazard manner; hasty and careless
*'''The fat woman''' (109) - Death

==Commentary==
Friday night, the day before departure, is described as ‘red,’ perhaps a parallel to the mean reds Holly must be feeling in anticipation of her journey to Brazil. Saturday itself, however, was under such a heavy rain it was questionable that a plane could take off. It is a fine forecast and foreshadowing of her grief to follow in this chapter.

Holly, against the wishes of the narrator and Joe Bell, continued to make her plans to leave. After being discharged from the hospital, she promptly went to a bank and then to Joe Bell’s bar. Bell himself delivered Holly’s message to the narrator, requesting that he gather the majority of her things (her jewelry, guitar, toothbrushes and stuff, bottle of hundred-year-old brandy, and the cat) from her apartment since it was under surveillance by police, reporters, and/or other interested parties, suggesting that perhaps they could be linked to Tomato.

On the way to Bell’s from the brownstone, the narrator reminisces about a time he walked nearly 500 miles from New Orleans to Nancy’s Landing, Mississippi, referencing it as a “light-hearted lark compared to the journey to Joe Bell’s bar” (p.105). We understand that the walk from the brownstone to the bar would be stressful; partly because the paper sacks he carried were falling apart and items were falling to the ground, but also because he feared being caught aiding an ‘outlaw.’ Comparing Nancy’s Landing to such a trying time suggests there is more to be known regarding the nature of his trip. Per The Explicator, “According to A Dictionary of the Underworld, "Nancy" refers either to the posterior or to "an effeminate man, especially a passive homosexual." "Nancy's Landing," then serves as Capote's code phrase for a gay resort...” The narrator’s lack of explanation for his journey is strongly suggestive of his homosexuality which plays into one of the underlying themes of BaT.

Though vehemently refusing to drink the hundred-year-old brandy with the narrator and Holly, Bell did call for a limousine to take Holly to the airport. Holly had the chauffer stop on a curb in Spanish Harlem where she stepped out of the limousine with the cat. She commences to have a one way conversation with the cat, seemingly trying to convince herself more than anyone, that this was the right place for him. She dropped him to the ground, and even after yelling and stomping her foot, he merely looked at her and rubbed against her leg. She jumped into the limousine only to go a block, and at a traffic light opened the door and ran back to attempt to find him. She realizes that they did belong to one another. Although Holly holds contempt for cages, the relationship with her cat is "symbolic of Holly's divided beliefs... (p.86, Garson)" She realizes that they did belong to one another, and illustrates how she longs to settle down and have a home. There is also a touch of irony in this situation; according to Garson her reason for ridding herself and the treatment of the cat "parallel Jose's treatment of Holly" (p86).

Unable to find the lost cat, the narrator promises Holly that he will find the cat and take care of him. She is not comforted by this, she instead “confesses her most private, deep-seated fear of what her life will always be: “Not knowing what’s yours until you’ve thrown it away. (p 86, Garson)” This demonstrates the author's wishful thinking. Wouldn't it be grand if everyone who left us felt remorse, especially our parents? The author capote was frequently abandoned as a child.(Clark 14) Here he gives Holly appropiate remorse for leaving a cat to fend for itself.

One of the underlying themes presented in this section is a heightened awareness of homosexuality of the narrator and Joe Bell. The first example is the narrator's reference to Nancy's Landing in comparison to his trip to Joe Bell's bar:

''"Never mind why, but once I walked from New Orleans to Nancy's Landing, Mississippi, just under five hundred miles. It was a light-hearted lark compared to the journey to Joe Bell's bar" (105).''

Nancy's Landing is a fictional place, a gay resort invented by Capote. The fact that he doesn't give a reason for the journey suggest that he intends to put the idea out there, without revealing too much about himself.

Joe Bell's homosexuality is apparant in the list of his passions, which include hockey, soap operas, and flower arranging. He also appreciates horses and baseball. His interest are a bit confusing, but shows that people cannot be stereotyped. All the characteristics suggest that he is gay, but the idea of horses and baseball as a key to heterosexuality presents cofusion to the reader.

"Our Gal Sunday (a soap serial he had listened to for fifteen years), and Gilbert and Sullivan," both of which indicate less stereotypically masculine aspects to his character. Capote develops the reference to Gilbert and Sullivan further, noting that "[Bell] claims to be related to one or the other, I can't remember which" (4). Since Sullivan is rumored to have been a homosexual because of the many coded references to sexual partners in his diaries, the passage slyly hints that the bartender is part of Sullivan's "family," a fellow gay man to his beloved composer." (Pugh)

==Study Questions==
#What are the five items that Holly requests from her apartment?
#What does the narrator use to transport the cat?
#How is Holly transported to the airport?
#Who arranges the transportation to the airport for Holly?
#Where is the cat abandoned?
#What is Joe Bell's reaction to the news that Holly is leaving?
#Where is Holly planning to go?
#What does Holly ask the narrator to do after she goes back and cannot find her cat?
#What does the narrator think when he finds the cat?

==External Resources==
*Pugh, Tison.[http://lionreference.chadwyck.com/searchFulltext.do?id=R01659106&divLevel=0&queryId=../session/1140713136_4425&area=abell&forward=critref_ft Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.] Explicator (Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, Washington, DC) (61:1) [Fall 2002] , p.51-53

*Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 22 Mar. 2006 [http://dictionary.reference.com/<Dictionary.com>].

==Works Cited==
*Capote, Truman. '''Breakfast at Tiffany's'''. New York: Vintage Books. 1993.

*Clarke, Gerald. Capote: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1988.

*Garson, Helen S. '''Truman Capote'''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc., 1980.

----
[[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 11|Section eleven]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 13|Section thirteen]]

[[Category:Literature]]

Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 12

2006-03-24T02:32:12Z

Jbowers: /* Commentary */

==Summary==
Against both the narrator and Joe Bell's wishes, Holly decides to leave for Rio, Brazil.

Holly waits at the bar while Joe Bell delivers her request to the narrator to gather her things, including her cat, and bring them to her at Joe Bell's bar. Though refusing to partake in a drink to Holly's departure, Bell arranges for a limousine to take Holly to the airport.

On the way to the airport, Holly drops the cat off on a street block in Spanish Harlem, and leaves him there. At a stop light a block away, she realizes that she and the cat ''do'' belong to one another. She jumps out of the car and runs back to look for him. When she is unable to find him, the narrator promises her that he will find and take care of the cat. Just before Holly gets into the limousine, she tells the narrator that she is scared. "I'm very scared Buster. Yes, at last. Because it could go on forever. Not knowing whats yours until you've thrown it away." (Capote 109) Holly "sinks" back in the limousine seat and leaves for the airport to go to Brazil. That was the last time the narrator saw Holly.

==Notes==
*'''Squall''' (104) - A brief sudden violent windstorm, often accompanied by rain or snow.
*'''Inclement''' (105) - severe, unrelenting; cruel
*'''Poignant''' (105) - Neat, skillful
*'''Lark''' (105) - A carefree or spirited adventure.
*[http://lionreference.chadwyck.com/searchFulltext.do?id=R01659106&divLevel=0&queryId=../session/1140713136_4425&area=abell&forward=critref_ft '''Nancy's Landing'''] (105)- Fictional town created by Capote. "Nancy's Landing," serves as Capote's code phrase for a gay resort, a make-believe, southern Fire Island or Provincetown. Thus, the narrator's coy rejoinder that the reader should "[n]ever mind why" he made the trip appears as a subtle move to direct attention away from his self-confession.
*'''Bon voyage''' (106)- French, literally translated as "good journey".
*'''Oompahpah''' (106)- A repeating rhythmic bass accompaniment.
*'''Rhapsodic''' (106)- Emotional and extravagant music.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Harlem'''Spanish Harlem'''](107)- Also known as East Harlem or El Barrio, a neighborhood in northeastern part of the borough of Manhattan, one of the largest predominantly Hispanic communities in New York City. Since the 1950s, it has been populated by a large number of people of Puerto Rican descent, sometimes called Nuyoricans. In recent years the neighborhood has also become home to many Mexican American immigrants.
*'''Hope Chest''' (106)- A chest used by a young woman for clothing and household goods, such as linens and silver, in anticipation of marriage.
*'''Slap dash''' (107) - In a reckless haphazard manner; hasty and careless
*'''The fat woman''' (109) - Death

==Commentary==
Friday night, the day before departure, is described as ‘red,’ perhaps a parallel to the mean reds Holly must be feeling in anticipation of her journey to Brazil. Saturday itself, however, was under such a heavy rain it was questionable that a plane could take off. It is a fine forecast and foreshadowing of her grief to follow in this chapter.

Holly, against the wishes of the narrator and Joe Bell, continued to make her plans to leave. After being discharged from the hospital, she promptly went to a bank and then to Joe Bell’s bar. Bell himself delivered Holly’s message to the narrator, requesting that he gather the majority of her things (her jewelry, guitar, toothbrushes and stuff, bottle of hundred-year-old brandy, and the cat) from her apartment since it was under surveillance by police, reporters, and/or other interested parties, suggesting that perhaps they could be linked to Tomato.

On the way to Bell’s from the brownstone, the narrator reminisces about a time he walked nearly 500 miles from New Orleans to Nancy’s Landing, Mississippi, referencing it as a “light-hearted lark compared to the journey to Joe Bell’s bar” (p.105). We understand that the walk from the brownstone to the bar would be stressful; partly because the paper sacks he carried were falling apart and items were falling to the ground, but also because he feared being caught aiding an ‘outlaw.’ Comparing Nancy’s Landing to such a trying time suggests there is more to be known regarding the nature of his trip. Per The Explicator, “According to A Dictionary of the Underworld, "Nancy" refers either to the posterior or to "an effeminate man, especially a passive homosexual." "Nancy's Landing," then serves as Capote's code phrase for a gay resort...” The narrator’s lack of explanation for his journey is strongly suggestive of his homosexuality which plays into one of the underlying themes of BaT.

Though vehemently refusing to drink the hundred-year-old brandy with the narrator and Holly, Bell did call for a limousine to take Holly to the airport. Holly had the chauffer stop on a curb in Spanish Harlem where she stepped out of the limousine with the cat. She commences to have a one way conversation with the cat, seemingly trying to convince herself more than anyone, that this was the right place for him. She dropped him to the ground, and even after yelling and stomping her foot, he merely looked at her and rubbed against her leg. She jumped into the limousine only to go a block, and at a traffic light opened the door and ran back to attempt to find him. She realizes that they did belong to one another. Although Holly holds contempt for cages, the relationship with her cat is "symbolic of Holly's divided beliefs... (p.86, Garson)" She realizes that they did belong to one another, and illustrates how she longs to settle down and have a home. There is also a touch of irony in this situation; according to Garson her reason for ridding herself and the treatment of the cat "parallel Jose's treatment of Holly" (p86).

Unable to find the lost cat, the narrator promises Holly that he will find the cat and take care of him. She is not comforted by this, she instead “confesses her most private, deep-seated fear of what her life will always be: “Not knowing what’s yours until you’ve thrown it away. (p 86, Garson)” This demonstrates the author's wishful thinking. Wouldn't it be grand if everyone who left us felt remorse, especially our parents? The author capote was frequently abandoned as a child.(Clark 14) Here he gives Holly appropiate remorse for leaving a cat to fend for itself.

One of the underlying themes presented in this section is a heightened awareness of homosexuality of the narrator and Joe Bell. The first example is the narrator's reference to Nancy's Landing in comparison to his trip to Joe Bell's bar:

''"Never mind why, but once I walked from New Orleans to Nancy's Landing, Mississippi, just under five hundred miles. It was a light-hearted lark compared to the journey to Joe Bell's bar" (105).''

Nancy's Landing is a fictional place, a gay resort invented by Capote. The fact that he doesn't give a reason for the journey suggest that he intends to put the idea out there, without revealing too much about himself.

Joe Bell's homosexuality is apparant in the list of his passions, which include hockey, soap operas, and flower arranging. He also appreciates horses and baseball. His interest are a bit confusing, but shows that people cannot be stereotyped. All the characteristics suggest that he is gay, but the idea of horses and baseball as a key to heterosexuality presents cofusion to the reader.

"Our Gal Sunday (a soap serial he had listened to for fifteen years), and Gilbert and Sullivan," both of which indicate less stereotypically masculine aspects to his character. Capote develops the reference to Gilbert and Sullivan further, noting that "[Bell] claims to be related to one or the other, I can't remember which" (4). Since Sullivan is rumored to have been a homosexual because of the many coded references to sexual partners in his diaries, the passage slyly hints that the bartender is part of Sullivan's "family," a fellow gay man to his beloved composer." (Pugh)

==Study Questions==
#What are the five items that Holly requests from her apartment?
#What does the narrator use to transport the cat?
#How is Holly transported to the airport?
#Who arranges the transportation to the airport for Holly?
#Where is the cat abandoned?
#What is Joe Bell's reaction to the news that Holly is leaving?
#Where is Holly planning to go?
#What does Holly ask the narrator to do after she goes back and cannot find her cat?
#What does the narrator think when he finds the cat?

==External Resources==
*Pugh, Tison.[http://lionreference.chadwyck.com/searchFulltext.do?id=R01659106&divLevel=0&queryId=../session/1140713136_4425&area=abell&forward=critref_ft Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.] Explicator (Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, Washington, DC) (61:1) [Fall 2002] , p.51-53

*Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 22 Mar. 2006 [http://dictionary.reference.com/<Dictionary.com>].

==Works Cited==
*Garson, Helen S. '''Truman Capote'''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc., 1980.

*Capote, Truman. '''Breakfast at Tiffany's'''. New York: Vintage Books. 1993.

----
[[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 11|Section eleven]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 13|Section thirteen]]

[[Category:Literature]]

Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 6

2006-03-24T01:49:21Z

Jbowers: /* Commentary */

==Summary==
After a fight with Holly, the narrator decides to leave the birdcage by her apartment door. This symbolizes his desire to cut ties with her. Later he finds the birdcage outside with the rest of the garbage. He “rescues” the birdcage from being thrown away, but he is still angry.

One day the narrator notices a “provocative man” lurking around the brownstone, and looking at Holly’s card. After the man follows the narrator for several blocks to a bar, the narrator talks to this man and learns that he is Doc Golightly, Holly’s husband, and Holly's name is really Lulamae Barnes.

Doc Golightly tells the narrator "Son, I need a friend" (Capote 66). In the beginning the narrator assumes that the man is Holly's father. "You're Holly's father." (Capote 66). The narrator starts to laugh because of "nerves".

Doc tells the story of finding Lulamae (Holly) and her brother trying to steal food from him in Tulip, Texas. He learns that both of their parents had died from Tuberculosis and that all of the children, including Lulamae and Fred had been sent to live with mean people. He took in Lulamae and her brother and allowed them to live with him and his four children on his farm. He later married Lulamae when she was fourteen and told the narrator that she became very "plump and happy" and did not understand why she would have just "run off" the way that she did. Doc Golightly had obtained her current address from her brother Fred, who was in the Army.

Doc pleads with the narrator to be his friend and "let her know I am here." (Capote 70). The narrator is eager to reunite Doc with Holly for his own personal gain. He wants Holly to be embrassed in front of her friends. The narrator starts to feel "ashamed" of his "anticipations" about the meeting. Doc is nervous and wonders if he looks ok to meet his wife. Although, Holly was expecting her brother Fred, her reaction to seeing Doc Golightly was very surprising. She acted very calm and not at all ashamed to see her husband. They hug and talk briefly before the narrator "squeezes past them to return to his own apartment" (Capote 72).

==Notes==
*'''Sheepishly''' (63)- Showing embarassment; meekness, timidity.
*'''Capitulation''' (63)- Act of surrendering.
*'''Exhibitionist''' (63)- A perversion marked by a tendency to indecent exposure.
*'''Perpetrator''' (64)- To bring about a crime or a deception.
*'''Vestibule''' (64)- A passage, hall, or room between the outer door and the interior of a building.
*'''Provocative''' (64)- Tending to provoke, stimulate, or excite.
*'''Coloratura''' (64)- A soprano specializing in elaborate and ornate vocal music.
*'''Plaintive''' (65)- Expressive of suffering or woe.
*'''Implausible''' (68)- Unbelievable or hard to believe or imagine.
*'''Dovetailed''' (68)- To fit skillfully together.
*'''Churren''' (67)- Children
*'''TB''' (68)- Tuberculosis: a highly variable communicable disease of humans and some other vertebrates caused by the tubercle bacillus and rarely in the U.S. by a related mycobacterium (Mycobacterium bovis) and characterized by toxic symptoms or allergic manifestations which in humans primarily affect the lungs.
*'''Brownstone''' (70)- A reddish brown sandstone used for building. A dwelling faced with brownstone.
*'''Pomeranian''' (65)- The Pomeranian is a compact, short-backed, active toy dog. He has a soft, dense undercoat with a profuse harsh-textured outer coat.
*'''Braille''' (64)-A code which enables blind persons to read and write. It was invented by a blind Frenchman, Louis Braille, in 1829. Braille is comprised of a rectangular six-dot cell on its end, with up to 63 possible combinations using one or more of the six dots. Braille is embossed by hand (or with a machine) onto thick paper, and read with the fingers moving across on top of the dots.

==Commentary==
The narrator rescues the birdcage because it is a symbol for home. To Holly, a home is a place where you are kept or owned, but to the narrator the birdcage is something he must recover. The narrator is "always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods.(3)" The author was fond of this theme of looking for home and sharing home with someone dear. As a child, Capote was frequently alone in a locked hotel room. The hotel staff would be instructed not to answer his frightened screams. He would eventually collapse exhausted on the bed, or in front of the door as he waited for his mother or father to return (Clark 14).

The narrator is both surprised and a little excited to find who and why Doc Golightly was standing outside the brownstone. The narrator had not been speaking to Holly for quite some time and part of him wanted a reason to initiate a "truce", but he did not want to admit that he enjoyed Holly's friendship. The other part of him saw this as an opportunity to call her bluff and show everyone that she truly was a fake and a fraud. Perhaps he was also surpised to learn that Holly's real name was Lulamae Barnes, a name that truly did not fit the Holiday Golightly that he knew.

When Doc leaves without Holly, it is further evident that she is a true "wild thing" and that Doc has accepted. The fact that he does not fight harder to have her come back with him shows how much he is still "under her spell". Holly had an innate ability to make everyone fall in love with her. To some degree, she was aware of this and that is the reason why she told the ones that fell in love with her "not to fall in love with a wild thing". She was warning them that she would only disappoint and hurt them, but they never listened. Holly was afraid of commitment, even though deep down she desperately wanted stability.

In this way, I believe Capote was trying to address the compassionate side of most people. When they see someone who is clearly on a path leading to destruction, they try to help them whether through influence or suggestion. However, as Capote so clearly showed us, you can't save someone who does not want to be saved; Holly is one of those people who does not want to be saved and does not even feel the need to be saved. She knows what it takes for her self preservation and will do whatever is necessary to maintain that. According to Gerald Clarke, Tiffany was "bright, brash, and somewhat scatty" (Clarke 291). She was modeled after quite a few of the woman that Capote knew during the days when he was writing this book. But maybe she was also modeled after Capote as well. Everyone talks about how the narrator is so alike Capote, so much so that he is often called the Capote Narrator. No one really looks at the similarities between Capote and Holly. Clarke states that Capote "wanted to be able to entertain, as well as to be entertained... Holly Golightly had similar yearnings for permanence and stability." (Clarke 296). In Clarke's '''Capote: A Biography''', Oliver Smith is quoted as saying: "In some part of his nature he [Capote] was trying to find a home." (Clarke 296)

==Study Questions==
#What is the significance of the birdcage to the narrator, to Holly?
#How is the birdcage similar to the "odd wood sculpture" (6)?
#Why does the narrator retrieve the birdcage when he sees it outside while leaving?
#Why are Holly and the narrator not speaking to each other?
#What does Madame Spanella circulate among the brownstone tenants in referance to Holly?
#What does the narrator say that Madame Spanella says about Holly?
#What season is it when the narrator first notices Doc Golightly examining Holly's mailbox?
#What is Doc Golightly wearing?
#Where is the narrator going when Doc Golightly follows him?
#How busy is the restaurant when the narrator arrives?
#What does Doc Golightly show the narrator at the counter?
#How many children does Doc Golightly say that Holly had?
#What is the name of Doc Golightly's oldest daughter?
#When does Doc Golightly's first wife die?
#What animal does Doc Golightly teach to say "Lulamae" for Holly?

==External Resources==

*Grzesiak, Rich. "My Significant Other, Truman Capote". [http://www.axiongrafix.com/capote.html]. 1987.

*Lackey, K. "Capote's Works". [http://itrs.scu.edu/english67/class/klackey/works.htm].

*Cash, Matthew. "Breakfast at Tiffany's -The Novel". [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bcash/novel.html].

*Garson, Helen S. Truman Capote. New York: Fredrick Unger Publishing. 1980.

==Works Cited==

*Capote, Truman. Breakfast at Tiffany's. New York: Random House Publishing. 1958.

*Clarke, Gerald. Capote: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1988.

----
[[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 5|Section five]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 7|Section seven]]

[[Category:Literature]]

Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 6

2006-03-23T23:25:56Z

Jbowers:

==Summary==
After a fight with Holly, the narrator decides to leave the birdcage by her apartment door. This symbolizes his desire to cut ties with her. Later he finds the birdcage outside with the rest of the garbage. He “rescues” the birdcage from being thrown away, but he is still angry.

One day the narrator notices a “provocative man” lurking around the brownstone, and looking at Holly’s card. After the man follows the narrator for several blocks to a bar, the narrator talks to this man and learns that he is Doc Golightly, Holly’s husband, and Holly's name is really Lulamae Barnes.

Doc Golightly tells the narrator "Son, I need a friend" (Capote 66). In the beginning the narrator assumes that the man is Holly's father. "You're Holly's father." (Capote 66). The narrator starts to laugh because of "nerves".

Doc tells the story of finding Lulamae (Holly) and her brother trying to steal food from him in Tulip, Texas. He learns that both of their parents had died from Tuberculosis and that all of the children, including Lulamae and Fred had been sent to live with mean people. He took in Lulamae and her brother and allowed them to live with him and his four children on his farm. He later married Lulamae when she was fourteen and told the narrator that she became very "plump and happy" and did not understand why she would have just "run off" the way that she did. Doc Golightly had obtained her current address from her brother Fred, who was in the Army.

Doc pleads with the narrator to be his friend and "let her know I am here." (Capote 70). The narrator is eager to reunite Doc with Holly for his own personal gain. He wants Holly to be embrassed in front of her friends. The narrator starts to feel "ashamed" of his "anticipations" about the meeting. Doc is nervous and wonders if he looks ok to meet his wife. Although, Holly was expecting her brother Fred, her reaction to seeing Doc Golightly was very surprising. She acted very calm and not at all ashamed to see her husband. They hug and talk briefly before the narrator "squeezes past them to return to his own apartment" (Capote 72).

==Notes==
*'''Sheepishly''' (63)- Showing embarassment; meekness, timidity.
*'''Capitulation''' (63)- Act of surrendering.
*'''Exhibitionist''' (63)- A perversion marked by a tendency to indecent exposure.
*'''Perpetrator''' (64)- To bring about a crime or a deception.
*'''Vestibule''' (64)- A passage, hall, or room between the outer door and the interior of a building.
*'''Provocative''' (64)- Tending to provoke, stimulate, or excite.
*'''Coloratura''' (64)- A soprano specializing in elaborate and ornate vocal music.
*'''Plaintive''' (65)- Expressive of suffering or woe.
*'''Implausible''' (68)- Unbelievable or hard to believe or imagine.
*'''Dovetailed''' (68)- To fit skillfully together.
*'''Churren''' (67)- Children
*'''TB''' (68)- Tuberculosis: a highly variable communicable disease of humans and some other vertebrates caused by the tubercle bacillus and rarely in the U.S. by a related mycobacterium (Mycobacterium bovis) and characterized by toxic symptoms or allergic manifestations which in humans primarily affect the lungs.
*'''Brownstone''' (70)- A reddish brown sandstone used for building. A dwelling faced with brownstone.
*'''Pomeranian''' (65)- The Pomeranian is a compact, short-backed, active toy dog. He has a soft, dense undercoat with a profuse harsh-textured outer coat.
*'''Braille''' (64)-A code which enables blind persons to read and write. It was invented by a blind Frenchman, Louis Braille, in 1829. Braille is comprised of a rectangular six-dot cell on its end, with up to 63 possible combinations using one or more of the six dots. Braille is embossed by hand (or with a machine) onto thick paper, and read with the fingers moving across on top of the dots.

==Commentary==
The narrator is both surprised and a little excited to find who and why Doc Golightly was standing outside the brownstone. The narrator had not been speaking to Holly for quite some time and part of him wanted a reason to initiate a "truce", but he did not want to admit that he enjoyed Holly's friendship. The other part of him saw this as an opportunity to call her bluff and show everyone that she truly was a fake and a fraud. Perhaps he was also surpised to learn that Holly's real name was Lulamae Barnes, a name that truly did not fit the Holiday Golightly that he knew.

When Doc leaves without Holly, it is further evident that she is a true "wild thing" and that Doc has accepted. The fact that he does not fight harder to have her come back with him shows how much he is still "under her spell". Holly had an innate ability to make everyone fall in love with her. To some degree, she was aware of this and that is the reason why she told the ones that fell in love with her "not to fall in love with a wild thing". She was warning them that she would only disappoint and hurt them, but they never listened. Holly was afraid of commitment, even though deep down she desperately wanted stability.

In this way, I believe Capote was trying to address the compassionate side of most people. When they see someone who is clearly on a path leading to destruction, they try to help them whether through influence or suggestion. However, as Capote so clearly showed us, you can't save someone who does not want to be saved; Holly is one of those people who does not want to be saved and does not even feel the need to be saved. She knows what it takes for her self preservation and will do whatever is necessary to maintain that. According to Gerald Clarke, Tiffany was "bright, brash, and somewhat scatty" (Clarke 291). She was modeled after quite a few of the woman that Capote knew during the days when he was writing this book. But maybe she was also modeled after Capote as well. Everyone talks about how the narrator is so alike Capote, so much so that he is often called the Capote Narrator. No one really looks at the similarities between Capote and Holly. Clarke states that Capote "wanted to be able to entertain, as well as to be entertained... Holly Golightly had similar yearnings for permanence and stability." (Clarke 296). In Clarke's '''Capote: A Biography''', Oliver Smith is quoted as saying: "In some part of his nature he [Capote] was trying to find a home." (Clarke 296)

==Study Questions==
#What is the significance of the birdcage to the narrator, to Holly?
#How is the birdcage similar to the "odd wood sculpture" (6)?
#Why does the narrator retrieve the birdcage when he sees it outside while leaving?
#Why are Holly and the narrator not speaking to each other?
#What does Madame Spanella circulate among the brownstone tenants in referance to Holly?
#What does the narrator say that Madame Spanella says about Holly?
#What season is it when the narrator first notices Doc Golightly examining Holly's mailbox?
#What is Doc Golightly wearing?
#Where is the narrator going when Doc Golightly follows him?
#How busy is the restaurant when the narrator arrives?
#What does Doc Golightly show the narrator at the counter?
#How many children does Doc Golightly say that Holly had?
#What is the name of Doc Golightly's oldest daughter?
#When does Doc Golightly's first wife die?
#What animal does Doc Golightly teach to say "Lulamae" for Holly?

==External Resources==

*Grzesiak, Rich. "My Significant Other, Truman Capote". [http://www.axiongrafix.com/capote.html]. 1987.

*Lackey, K. "Capote's Works". [http://itrs.scu.edu/english67/class/klackey/works.htm].

*Cash, Matthew. "Breakfast at Tiffany's -The Novel". [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bcash/novel.html].

*Garson, Helen S. Truman Capote. New York: Fredrick Unger Publishing. 1980.

==Works Cited==

*Capote, Truman. Breakfast at Tiffany's. New York: Random House Publishing. 1958.

*Clarke, Gerald. Capote: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1988.

----
[[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 5|Section five]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's]] | [[Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 7|Section seven]]

[[Category:Literature]]

Allusion

2006-02-24T04:36:36Z

Jbowers:

Allusion is an author's reference to another literary work, a cultural event, or an experience in the author's life.

“An allusion is a brief reference to a person, place, or event, historical or actual, that readers are expected to recognize” (Kirszner 813). Authors assume that they and the reader share a common body of knowledge (Kirszner 813). Allusions can come from any source, from historical literary texts such as ancient texts and scriptures to more personal elements of the author’s life (Kirszner 814). Allusion causes the reader to think back to a previous story, or a certain situation, and recall a key point, theme, or significance. Authors use allusions to borrow authority, emotion or reputation for their work. An author who references Shakespeare, is utilizing Shakespeare’s established reputation to give credence to their work. If an author needs to portray betrayal in a literary work, they can do this quite economically with a reference to Caesar and Brutus.

Biblical and Scriptural allusions are often seen in epic poetry; these allusions lend a very authoritative and historical significance to the work, even if the work is contemporary (Meyer 536). When a reader’s memory has then been triggered by something the author has written previously, for example, an earlier chapter or a previous book, one may apply the significance of the current situation or key point to that which it is being compared.

Harmon references to the movie ''King Kong'': “The beauty killed the beast.” Allusions can play as a summarization of an idea, which is why this statement on the movie ''King Kong'' is considered an allusion.

----

[[Literary Terms]]

== Works Cited ==

* Frye, Northrop, et al. ''The Harper Handbook to Literature''. 2nd ed. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 1997.
* Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman. ''A Handbook to Literature''. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall 1996.
* Kirszner, Laurie G and Stephen G. Mandel. Literature Reading, Reacting Writing. Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1994.
* Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1990.

[[Category:Literary Terms]]

Allusion

2006-02-21T21:12:53Z

Jbowers:

Allusion is literary, intertextual linking.

“An allusion is a brief reference to a person, place, or event, historical or actual, that readers are expected to recognize” (Kirszner 813).

Authors assume that they and the reader share a common body of knowledge (Kirszner 813). Allusions can come from any source, from historical literary texts such as ancient texts and scriptures to more personal elements of the author’s life (Kirszner 814). Allusion works by causing the reader to think back to a previous story, or a certain situation, and recall a key point, theme, or significance. Authors use allusions to borrow authority, emotion or reputation for their work. An author who references Shakespeare, is utilizing Shakespeare’s established reputation to give credence to their work. If an author needs to portray betrayal in a literary work, they can do this quite economically with a reference to Caesar and Brutus. Biblical and Scriptural allusions are often seen in epic poetry; these allusions lend a very authoritative and historical significance to the work, even if the work is contemporary(Meyer 536). Allusions enrich current literary experience by providing a much greater significance to the present by bringing up a memory of the past. When a reader’s memory has then been triggered by something the author has written previously, for example, an earlier chapter or a previous book, one may apply the significance of the current situation or key point to that which it is being compared.

Harmon references to the movie ''King Kong'': “The beauty killed the beast.” Allusions can play as a summarization of an idea, which is why this statement on the movie ''King Kong'' is considered an allusion.

----

[[Literary Terms]]

== Works Cited ==

* Frye, Northrop, et al. ''The Harper Handbook to Literature''. 2nd ed. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 1997.
* Harmon, William and C. Hugh Holman. ''A Handbook to Literature''. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall 1996.
* Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1990.
* Kirszner, Laurie G and Stephen G. Mandel. Literature Reading, Reacting Writing. Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace College
Publishers, 1994.

[[Category:Literary Terms]]