Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 12

Summary

The narrator is sent to Holly's apartment to gather up some of her things, and the cat. He took them to Joe Bell's, where Holly was waiting for him. They then leave in a limousine and head to the airport. On the way there, Holly drops the cat off on a street block, and leaves him there. A block down the road she realizes that she wants the cat back and runs back there to look for him. She could not find him, so the narrator promises her that he will find and take care of the cat. She gets back in the limo and leaves for the airport, to go to Rio.

Notes

bon voyage (106)- French, literally translated as "good journey".

oompahpah (106)- A rhythmic bass accompaniment, that repeats.

rhapsodic (106)- Emotional, extravagant music.

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.

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.

Study Questions

• What were the five items that Holly requested from her apartment?
• What did the narrator use to transport the cat?
• What was Holly transported to the airport in, and who arranged it?
• Where was the cat abandoned?

Works Cited

Pugh, Tison.Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. Explicator (Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, Washington, DC) (61:1) [Fall 2002] , p.51-53

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