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Breakfast at Tiffany's: Difference between revisions
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== | {{Infobox novella | ||
| italic title = <!--(see above)--> | |||
| name = Breakfast at Tiffany’s | |||
| image = BreakfastAtTiffanys.JPG | |||
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| alt = | |||
| caption = First Edition cover, 1958 | |||
| author = Truman Capote | |||
| audio_read_by = | |||
| title_orig = | |||
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| translator = | |||
| illustrator = | |||
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| country = | |||
| language = | |||
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| subject = | |||
| genre = [[Novella]] | |||
| set_in = | |||
| publisher = Random House | |||
| publisher2 = | |||
| pub_date = 1958 | |||
| english_pub_date = | |||
| published = | |||
| pages = 179 | |||
}} | |||
'''''Breakfast at Tiffany’s''''' is a 1958 [[novel]]/[[novella]] by American writer [[Truman Capote]]. | |||
== | == Sections == | ||
Below are the thirteen major sections of the [[novella]]. Since Capote did not use chapters, these are indicated by the double line break on the page. There might be more sections, or a more logical means of distinguishing them, but these arbitrary divisions will work for our purposes. | Below are the thirteen major sections of the [[novella]]. Since Capote did not use chapters, these are indicated by the double line break on the page. There might be more sections, or a more logical means of distinguishing them, but these arbitrary divisions will work for our purposes. | ||
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==Characters== | ==Characters== | ||
=== | ===Capote/Narrator=== | ||
An aspiring writer who lives above Holly in his New York apartment. He becomes friends with Holly and Joe Bell | An aspiring writer who lives above Holly in his New York apartment. He is affectionately referred to as "Fred" by Holly until her brother dies. After her brother's death, she only refers to him as "Buster". He enjoys drinking bourbon and reading Simenon. He becomes friends with Holly and Joe Bell. He seems to be a passive man, and is suspected of being homosexual due to the lack of sexual nature of his and Holly's relationship. His character closely resembles Capote in his own life. AKA the Capote Narrator. | ||
===Holly Golightly=== | ===Holiday "Holly" Golightly=== | ||
True name is Lulamae Barnes. At age 14 she married Doc Golightly near Tulip, Texas. Her parents both passed away from TB, and she was sent to stay with some ‘mean people’ approximately 100 miles east of Tulip. She and her brother, Fred, ran away and would steal in order to eat. After being caught stealing by one of Doc’s daughters, he fell in love with her and asked her to marry him. Though she ran away from him at age 14, she feels she owes a lot to Doc because he gave her confidence in herself. Discovered in California by O.J. Berman, she was given French lessons to rid her of her country accent, and modeled after Margaret Sullavan. Later she posed as niece to Sally Tomato in exchange for money to deliver ‘weather reports’ from Sing Sing to his lawyer. | |||
Just shy of being 19 at the beginning of the story, Holly is described physically as ageless, having short, boy styled hair with a hodgepodge of colors including white blonde and yellow streaks (self colored), and being thin but a clean and healthy look about her. Her cheeks are pink and she has very large mouth and warm, blue, green, and brown eyes, which she hides behind large, prescription sunglasses at all hours. Her nose is turned up at the end, like a pixie. She is always well groomed, with a tendency to dress in good taste, but plainly, in grays and blues which seems to make her shine even more. | |||
Holly believes strongly in being free to roam where ever her whim should take her. Although she resides in apartment 2 of the brownstone, she seems to not have a home. Her inability to keep up with her apartment key, her nameless cat, and the sparse furnishings in her apartment illustrate well her lack of commitment to one place or thing. Even her mail box card is non-committing : Miss Holiday Golightly, Traveling. Although she seems so free spirited, later in the novella we find that she desperately does want to find a place to call her own; a place that makes her feel secure as Tiffany’s does. | |||
Holly smokes Picayunes, a type of cigarette; which irony is found when one realizes in Spanish it means “something of very little value, a trifle.” On occasion she also confessed to smoking marijuana, and seems to be a drinker. She loyally reads tabloids, travel folders, and astrological charts, as well as letters from her brother overseas. She plays the guitar very well (taught to her by Doc) and sings a little. Although her profession is never named, she makes it part of her job to study horses and baseball, and trained herself to like men over 40 who give her considerable amounts of money to visit the powder room. Holly considers herself bisexual. | |||
She has no qualms about lying when it amuses or benefits her. She seems to have loyalties to no one except for her brother, Fred, with whom she fantasizes about having a horse farm near the sea in Mexico. Being rich and famous is in the top of her priorities. The narrator describes her as a lopsided romantic, as well as a crude exhibitionist, a time waster, and an utter fake. | |||
===Joe Bell=== | ===Joe Bell=== | ||
Joe Bell | Owner of a quiet bar on Lexington Avenue, referred to as Joe Bell's. Physically described to be small, with fine coarse white hair, a sloping bony face better suited to a tall person, and a complexion which always appears sunburnt. He has a froggy voice. Suspected to be homosexual. Devoted to and loves Holly; took numerous phone messages for her when she was in New York, and through out the years during her absence has constantly looked for her in the streets. He doesn't have an easy nature, self described due to being a bachelor and having a sour stomach, which he regularly self medicates with Tums. He is very difficult to talk to unless you are interested in Holly, ice hockey, Weimaraner dogs, Our Gal Sunday (Soap serial on for 15 years), and Gilbert or Sullivan. He has a froggy voice. He's talented at flower arranging, and keeps fresh flowers in his bar. | ||
===I. Y. Yunioshi=== | |||
Mistakenly said to be from Japan by Bell, but truly from California. He is a photographer featured in a magazine called Winchell, and lived in the studio apartment, top floor of brownstone, during Holly’s time living there. | |||
===Negro man from Africa=== | |||
Tall, delicate man, who wore a calico skirt. He is a talented wood sculptor from the S Tribe, in Tococul, East Anglia. He was photographed by Yunioshi on Christmas Day in 1956, depicting him with a "shy, yet vain smile, displaying in his hands an odd wood sculpture," of the head of Holly Golightly (p6). Shared a mat with Holly Golightly in Spring of that same year. | |||
===Madame Sapphia Spanella=== | |||
Tenant of brownstone. Described as a husky, coloratura (a singer, usually a soprano, who specializes in music characterized by trills and runs) who goes roller-skating every afternoon in Central Park. She began a petition in the brownstone to evict Holly for being “morally objectionable and the perpetrator of all night gatherings that endanger the safety and sanity of her neighbors (p. 64).” She did not like Holly and made no secret of it. | |||
===Sid Arbuck=== | |||
Escorted Holly home the first evening Fred sees her. He picked up the check for five of her friends, whom he did not know, and expected to stay the evening with her. Apparently he did not succeed due to giving her only twenty cents to go to the powder-room. | |||
===Fred=== | |||
Holly’s favorite of four brothers. When the family was separated to live with different foster homes after their parents' death, she and Fred stayed together shuffled around to live with different "mean people". He was discovered with Holly trying to steal food from Doc Golightly's farm by his oldest daughter. He was the only one who would let her hug him when it was cold as a child. Described to be 6’2” and ‘slow’ or ‘stupid’. After Holly ran away from Doc and his family, Fred stayed behing and eventually joined the military. He had a great love for peanut butter. Was in the 8th grade for three years, then was drafted into the army where he eventually died. | |||
===Sally Tomato=== | |||
Looks like a monk with gold teeth to Holly. He speaks very little English. While in Sing Sing prison, he was visited every Thursday by Golightly, and gave her a “weather report”. Revealed to be the notorious Mafia-führer Salvatore "Sally" Tomato. At one time he would hang out at Joe Bell’s often, but didn’t socialize with anyone. | |||
===O.J. Berman=== | |||
An agent who met Holly at Santa Anita, CA when she was 15. Smokes cigars, wears Knize cologne. Wears elevated heals, appears to be a midget, freckled, large head, bald, pointed elven ears, Pekingese eyes which are bulged and unpitying. Hair sprouts from his ears and nose, and he has hairy hands. He has a jerky metallic rhythm to his speech. Considers himself sensitive, and loves Holly. | |||
===Benny Polan=== | |||
Asked Holly to marry him; he spent thousands of dollars sending her to psychiatrists. | |||
===Cecil B. DeMille & Gary Cooper=== | |||
Actors starring in The Story of Dr Wassell. | |||
===Rusty (Rutherford) Trawler=== | |||
Middle aged, baby faced, fat and appeared to be a spoiled child. Lost both parents in 1908 at age 5, his father a victim of anarchist and his mother died of shock. This made him instantly a millionaire and celebrity. His godfather arrested for sodomy due to him, and has divorced 3 times. He offered to marry Unity Mitford if Hitler didn’t, thus was referred to as a Nazi by many. Attended rallies in Yorkville. Acts as though he should be in diapers, Holly said he should be wearing a skirt. Talks in a whiney voice. He thinks girls are literally dolls and although believed to be homosexual, he marries Mag Wildwood. | |||
===Mag Wildwood (Margaret Thatcher Fitzhue Wildwood)=== | |||
Her home town is Wildwood, Arkansas. Models for Yunioshi for the Bazaar. Described to be extremely thin, flat chested, and over 6 feet tall, with a stutter that she over exaggerates. She lives at the Winslow. All men in her family were soldiers, and there is a statue of her father in Wildwood. She is very proud of her country, and considers herself a warmhearted person. She knits. Temporarily roomed with Holly and was engaged to Jose. She was often referred to as being a lesbian. | |||
===Jose Ybarra-Jaegar=== | |||
A Brazilian with a German mother. He aims to be the president of Brazil. Has a strong latin accent, originally Wildwood’s lover and later became Holly’s. He is described to be intelligent, presentable, and very serious about his work, which is related to the government. He is in Washington 3 days a week. His priorities are maintaining his good name and work, and broke his engagement with Holly due to her arrest and publicity with Sally Tomato. | |||
===Mildred Grossman=== | |||
A girl who went to school with the narrator. Described as a top heavy realist with moist hair and greasy glasses covering flat eyes. She dissected frogs and went to picket lines, and only examined stars to gauge their chemical tonnage. Compared to Holly by the narrator to be a Siamese twin; they would never change because they’d been given their character too soon. (p.58) | |||
===Doc Golightly=== | |||
Farmer, horse doctor, and husband of Holly/Lulamae, from Tulip, Texas. He is described to be very provocative, early fifties w/ a hard weathered face, and gray forlorn eyes. He appeared in New York outside the brownstone wearing an old sweat-stained gray hat, a pale blue, cheap summer suit, loose on his lanky frame. He wore brand new brown shoes. He likes to whistle, and has a very countrified drawl. Smells of tobacco and sweat, and keeps a toothpick in his mouth to chew on. He is very forward when speaking with the narrator. He came via Greyhound to see Holly/Lulamae. His first wife passed away on July 4th 1936, and married Holly/Lulamae December 38 when she was just shy of age 14. | |||
===Nellie=== | |||
Doc’s oldest daughter, discovered Fred and Lulamae stealing milk and turkey eggs from their farm when Holly was just fourteen years old. | |||
==Major Themes== | ==Major Themes== | ||
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===The Fat Lady=== | ===The Fat Lady=== | ||
The fat lady was the female detective that wore the civilian clothes. The fat lady hair was " thick yellow braids roped around her head." The fat lady detective talk in a baby voice. She told Holly "come along, sister." You're going places." At this time, Holly did not want the fat lady hands touching her. Holly said: "Get them cotton-pickin hands off of me, you dreary,driveling old bull-dyke." This made the fat lady angry, so she slapped Holly so damned hard across her face,her head spinned to her over shoulder. As the detectives started to escort Holly down the stairs, she yells "please feed the cat." Holly refers to death as the fat lady, like the old saying "it ain't over till the fat lady sings". | |||
The fat lady was the female detective that wore the civilian clothes. The fat lady hair was " thick yellow braids roped around her head." The fat lady detective talk in a baby voice. She told Holly "come along, sister." You're going places." At this time, Holly did not want the fat lady hands touching her. Holly said: "Get them cotton-pickin hands off of me, you dreary,driveling old bull-dyke." This made the fat lady angry, so she slapped Holly so damned hard across her face,her head spinned to her over shoulder. As the detectives started to escort Holly down the stairs, she yells "please feed the cat." | |||
===The Cat=== | ===The Cat=== | ||
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===The Bird Cage=== | ===The Bird Cage=== | ||
The narrator | The birdcage first appears in the story wile the narrator is walking down Third Avenue and sees it in the window of an antique store. The cage is described as "a mosque of minarets and bamboo rooms yearning to be filled with talkative parrots." (Capote 15) The narrator likes the cage but doesn’t purchase it because it costs three hundred and fifty dollars. Wile out on Third Avenue with Holly one afternoon the narrator remembers the birdcage and decides to show it to her where upon seeing it Holly "enjoyed the point, its fantasy", and said "But its still a cage." (Capote 55) The narrator is at Holly's apartment for Christmas when she presents him with the cage. "But holly! It's dreadful!" "I couldn't agree more; but I thought you wanted it." The narrator views the cage is dreadful because Holly spent the great amount of money on it as she did, but Holly views it in that manner due to what a cage symbolizes. Holly is a "free spirit" and tries to stay away from the caging of anything either in idea or physically caging something. An example of this would be when Holly is speaking to the narrator and says "A person ought to be able to marry men or women or-listen, if you came to me and said you wanted to hitch up with Man o' War, I'd respect your feeling" (Capote 83) Upon giving the narrator the cage Holly makes him promise to "never put a living thing in it". (Capote 59) In return the narrator gives Holly a Saint Christopher's Metal from Tiffany's. | ||
==Influences== | ==Influences== | ||
Capote's life had a great deal of influence on the novella. Capote was a teenager when he began writing books, and the narrator also was a writer in his teens. " | The somewhat "curious" title <i>Breakfast at Tiffany's</i> was inspired by a man from out-of-town that Capote heard about, who was "ignorant of New York" (Plimpton 161). As Plimpton asserts, when the man was asked to pick from the best restaurants in New York where to eat breakfast, he replied: "Well, let's have breakfast at Tiffany's," which was the only place he knew of (161). | ||
Capote's life had a great deal of influence on the novella. Capote was a teenager when he began writing books, and the narrator also was a writer in his teens. Capote once said, "I always knew that I wanted to be a writer and that I wanted to be rich and famous" (Krebs). The narrator wanted to be a success early in life, and Capote expressed himself in the same sense. He knew "[he] had to be successful, and [he] had to be successful early" (Krebs). Capote turned into an alcholic because of his drinking at a young age. The narrator was also a heavy drinker. Holly and the narrator would go to the bar and drink many times. Capote was also a homosexual; his partner was Jack Dunphy [http://www.axiongraphicx.com/Capote.html]. In the novella, when the narrator is looking through Holly's book collection, he realizes that she only owns books about horses and baseball. The narrator has no interest in either subjuct. Holly mentions her love for horses and explains to the narrator how she does not like baseball at all, but she reads books about it for research purposes. Holly informs the narrator that if a man does not like either subject then she is in trouble any way because he does not like girls. The narrator's life in the novella is almost a mirror image of Capote. | |||
In real life, Truman Capote's mother's name was Lillie Mae [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/capote.htm] which is very similar to the real name he chose to give Holly of Lulamae. It is also interesting that the narrator in the novella is an aspiring writer just as Capote had been when he moved to New York and he also is given the same birthday as Capote which is September 30th. | In real life, Truman Capote's mother's name was Lillie Mae [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/capote.htm] which is very similar to the real name he chose to give Holly of Lulamae. It is also interesting that the narrator in the novella is an aspiring writer just as Capote had been when he moved to New York and he also is given the same birthday as Capote which is September 30th. | ||
Some have said that Capote's works were possibly influenced by the works of Edgar Allan Poe but looking closely to Capote's own life experiences, this novella seems to be solely influenced by his own life with a bit of a flare. | Some have said that Capote's works were possibly influenced by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, but looking closely to Capote's own life experiences, this novella seems to be solely influenced by his own life with a bit of a flare. He was inspired by the women in his life to create Holly Golightly's character. As Clarke asserts, Capote modeled “his scatty central character...on half a dozen of the charming young beauties he had squired around Manhattan during and after World War II” (64). One woman who likes to take credit for inspiring Holly's character is Doris Lilly, who was like a sister to Capote in his youth. She actually lived in a “brownstone walk-up on East Seventy-eighth Street, exactly [like] the one in the book,” and says “there’s an awful lot of [her] in Holly Golightly” (Lilly 164). Also, Clarke states that "the one Holly most resembles, in spirit if not in body, is her creator. She not only shares his philosophy, but his fears and anxieties as well." (Clarke 313) | ||
One more connection that can be made to see how Capote's own life was a big influence in the writing of the novel is the homosexual references in the book. Capote was a homosexual, one of the first well known people to actually come out and let people know he was a homosexual. This is very substantial, because in 50's and 60's it was not something that people talked about, it was taboo. | |||
==Additional Resources== | ==Additional Resources== | ||
*Capote, Truman. <em>The Complete Stories of Truman Capote.</em> New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 2004. | *Capote, Truman. <em>The Complete Stories of Truman Capote.</em> New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 2004. | ||
*Garsen, Helen S. <i>Truman Capote</i>. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1980. | *Garsen, Helen S. <i>Truman Capote</i>. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1980. | ||
*Goyen, William. "That Old Valentine Maker." New York Times Book Review. November 1958:5,38. | |||
*Goyen, William. "That Old Valentine Maker" | *Cash, Mathew. [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bcash/criticalanalysis.html <i>The Breakfast at Tiffany's</i> Homepage - A Critical Analysis]. 1996. ''University of Michigan''. 14 March 2006. | ||
==Works Cited== | ==Works Cited== | ||
{{refbegin}} | |||
*Capote, Truman. ''Breakfast at Tiffany's''. New York: Vintage Books - A division of Random House, 1993. | *Capote, Truman. ''Breakfast at Tiffany's''. New York: Vintage Books - A division of Random House, 1993. | ||
*Cash, Matthew. ''The Breakfast at Tiffany's Homepage''. 1996. University of Michigan. 14 March 2006. <www.personal.umich.edu/~bcash/criticalanalysis.html> | *Cash, Matthew. ''The Breakfast at Tiffany's Homepage''. 1996. University of Michigan. 14 March 2006. <www.personal.umich.edu/~bcash/criticalanalysis.html> | ||
*Clarke, Gerald. ''Capote: A Biography''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988. | |||
*Clarke, Gerald. ''Too Brief a Treat: The Letters of Truman Capote''. New York: Random House, 2004. | |||
*Grzesiak, Rich. "My Significant Other, Truman Capote". [http://axiongrafix.com/capote.html]. 1987. | |||
*Hassan, Ihab H. "Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature". Vol.1, No.2. Spring, 1960. pp.5-21 | *Hassan, Ihab H. "Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature". Vol.1, No.2. Spring, 1960. pp.5-21 | ||
*Krebs, Albin. "Truman Capote Is Dead at 59; Novelist of Style and Clarity". The New York Times on the web. 28 Aug.1984 <www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/28/home/capote-obit.html> | *Krebs, Albin. "Truman Capote Is Dead at 59; Novelist of Style and Clarity". The New York Times on the web. 28 Aug.1984 <www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/28/home/capote-obit.html> | ||
*Levine, Paul. ''Book Review of Breakfeast at Tiffany's/Levine''. The Georgia Review.3/(1959): 350-352 | *Levine, Paul. ''Book Review of Breakfeast at Tiffany's/Levine''. The Georgia Review.3/(1959): 350-352 | ||
*Lilly, Doris. ''Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career''. Ed. George Plimpton. New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1997. | |||
*Nance, Willaim L."The Worlds of Truman Capote, Stein and Day" 1970.Contemporary Literary Criticism. | *Nance, Willaim L."The Worlds of Truman Capote, Stein and Day" 1970.Contemporary Literary Criticism. | ||
*Plimpton, George. ''Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances,and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career''. New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. 1997. | *Plimpton, George. ''Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances,and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career''. New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. 1997. | ||
*Pugh, Tison. ''Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's''. ''The Explicator''. 6/(2002): 51-53 | *Pugh, Tison. ''Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's''. ''The Explicator''. 6/(2002): 51-53 | ||
{{refend}} | |||
[[Category:Literary]] | |||
[[Category:Novellas]] | |||
[[Category:20th Century]] | |||
[[Category:Contemporary]] | |||
[[Category: | |||