Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 6
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 he needs a friend. 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 (Holly) 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 was 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." (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".
Notes
- 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.
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 and perhaps needed a reason to initiate a "truce" but he did not want to admit that he enjoyed Holly's friendship and the other part of him saw this as an opportunity to call her bluff so to speak and show everyone that she was a fake and a fraud. Perhaps he was also surpised to learn that Holly's real name was Lulamae, a name that truly did not fit Holly.
When Doc leaves without Holly, it is further evident that she is a true "wild thing" and that Doc knows that. The fact that he does not fight harder to have her come back with him shows how much he is still very much "under her spell". Holly had an innate ability to make everyone around her fall in love with her almost as if she had some sort of voodoo majic all her own. To some degree, she was aware of this and that is the reason why she told everyone around 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.
In this way, I believe Capote was trying to address the compassionate side of most people in that they see someone who is clearly on a path leading to destruction and 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 and Holly is one of those people who does not want to be saved and does not even feel the need to be saved. She is bold and scrappy and believes that she can take care of herself no matter what comes her way and for the most part, she has. Holly Golightly is a survivor. She knows what it takes for her self preservation and will do whatever is necessary to maintain that.
Study Questions
- 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". [1]. 1987.
- Lackey, K. "Capote's Works". [2].
- Cash, Matthew. "Breakfast at Tiffany's -The Novel". [3].
- 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.