Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 6: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:23, 21 March 2006

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 learned 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 did the narrator retrieve the birdcage when he saw it outside as he was leaving?

2. Why were Holly and the narrator not speaking to each other?

3. What was Madame Spanella circulating among the brownstone tenants in referance to Holly?

4. What did the narrator say that Madame Spanella said about Holly?

5. What season was it when the narrator first noticed Doc Golightly examining Holly's mailbox?

6. What was Doc Golightly wearing?

7. Where was the narrator going when Doc Golightly followed him?

8. How busy was the restaurant when the narrator arrived?

9. What did Doc Golightly show the narrator at the counter?

10. How many children did Doc Golightly say that Holly had?

11. What was the name of Doc Golightly's oldest daughter?

12. When did Doc Golightly's first wife die?

13. What animal did Doc Golightly teach to say "Lulamae" for Holly?

External Resources

Works Cited

< Section five | Breakfast at Tiffany's | Section seven >

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 ==Summary==
-Previously, Holly and the narrator had a fight and the narrator decides to leave the birdcage that Holly had given him as a gift by her apartment door. This symbolizes that he wants to cut ties with her, at least at that moment in the story. 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. The narrator and Holly go a while without talking. Then 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 this is Holly’s husband, and her name is really Lulamae Barnes.
+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.
-The man's name is Doc Golightly. He had found Lulamae (Holly) and her brother trying to steal food from him in Tulip, Texas.  He learned 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 he 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 who was in the Army and had heard from her in recent months.  At the end of this section, the narrator meets Holly at her front door as she is leaving to go out.  When he calls her by the name "Lulamae", she believes that Fred is there and looks for him only to find Doc coming up the stairs.  They hug and talk briefly before the narrator "squeezes past them to return to his own apartment.
+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 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. Her disappoint was the fact that he wasn't Fred.
+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 learned 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==