Breakfast at Tiffany's Section 7

Summary

A Martini

Holly and the protangist are in Joe Bell's bar. They are discussing her evening with her husband Doc Golightly, why she married him,and why she never divorced him. Joe, at many points during the discussion, tries to listen and give his opinion. She is telling the protangist and Joe that she feels that Doc's mistake was his "love" for wild things. The narrator and Holly are steadily drinking Martinis. Holly offers a toast to Doc, believeing that he has made it to the Blue Mountains.

Notes

• tums (72)- an antacid for gas "You're rockin' the boat kinda early," he complained, crunching on a Tums (Capote 72).

• rounds (72)- a set of drinks bought by and individual for another person or a group of people. "It was not yet noon...and he'd already served us three rounds" (Capote 72).

• Lulamae (73)- Holly Golightly's name was Lulamae Barnes before she married Doc Golightly. "Her name's not Holly. She was a Lulamae Barnes. Was..."(Capote 66).

• Blue Mountains (74)- Map Holly must have been talking about the Blue Ridge Mountains when she said,"He must be in the Blue Mountains by now" (Capote 74).

Commentary

In this scene Holly Golightly's husband, Doc, finds her. The narrator finds out that Holly Golightly's real name is Lulamae and that she married Doc at the age of fourteen. Holly never divorced Doc. She says,"Divorce him? Of course I never divorced him. I was only fourteen, for God's sake. It couldn't have been legal" (Capote 72). Holly gets really drunk and then tells the narrator and Joe Bell what had happened the night before. Holly slept with Doc and justified the act by saying, "Well, I had to. Doc really loves me, you know. and I love him. He may have looked old and tacky to you. But you don't know the sweetness of him. the confidence he can give to birds and brats and fragile things like that. Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot" (Capote 73). After that Holly and Doc went to the bus station, and Doc thought that Holly was going to leave with him. Holly does not leave with Doc. Instead she realizes that she is the same person now as she was when she was fourteen. She calls her problems the mean reds. "Capote uses some of his best dramatic irony in the novel with the characterization of Doc Golightly. Up until the last minute when he is ready to board a bus bound for Tulip, he truly believes that he has convinced Lulamae to come home with him. But as the reader and the narrator both know, she can't, it would be a total contradiction to everything she believes in" (Cash 4). Holly and the narrator continue to drink as Holly tells Joe Bell to never love a wild thing. Holly then admits to her unhappiness by saying, "...it's better to look at the sky than live there" (Capote 74).

Study Questions

1. What time are Holly and the protangist at Joe Bell's bar? How many rounds have they already had?
2. What mistake did Holly believe Doc was making?
3. Why did Holly need to explain or justify herself to Mr. Bell?
4. What does Holly mean by the statement "the mean reds"?
5. What was Holly Golightly's name before she married Doc?
6. What does Holly realize about herself on page 73?
7. How old was Holly when she married Doc?
8. Why does Holly believe she didn't have to divorce Doc?

External Resources

• Cash, Matthew. A Travelin' Through the Pastures of the Sky: A Critical Analysis of Breakfast at Tiffany's. 1996.