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
Study Questions
1. Why does the narrator retrieve the birdcage when he sees it outside while leaving?
2. Why are Holly and the narrator not speaking to each other?
3. What does Madame Spanella circulate among the brownstone tenants in referance to Holly?
4. What does the narrator say that Madame Spanella says about Holly?
5. What season is it when the narrator first notices Doc Golightly examining Holly's mailbox?
6. What is Doc Golightly wearing?
7. Where is the narrator going when Doc Golightly follows him?
8. How busy is the restaurant when the narrator arrives?
9. What does Doc Golightly show the narrator at the counter?
10. How many children does Doc Golightly say that Holly had?
11. What is the name of Doc Golightly's oldest daughter?
12. When does Doc Golightly's first wife die?
13. 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.