Breakfast at Tiffany’s

1. Breakfast at Tiffany’s Carlos Hernandez and Luis Gonzalez

2. Background: • Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a fictional short novel. It takes places in the Manhattan’s Upper East Side, during the final years of WWII. • Capote composed the novel in the Spring of 1958, and his next major work was In Cold Blood.

3. Main Characters: • Narrator- when the story was being told, he was a struggling unpublished writer. • Holly- was a tenant in the old brown-stone and lived in the apartment below the narrator. • Joe Bell- runs a bar around the corner on Lexington Avenue.

4. Characters Continued… • O.J. Berman- a Hollywood actor’s agent. • Rutherford “Rusty” Trawler- millionaire who has the physical appearance of a newborn baby. He was Holly’s companion for a while and later marries Mag Wildwood. • Mag Wildwood- one of Holly’s friend and shares the apartment for a while. • Doc Golightly- the man Holly married as a young child.

5. Narrator • His name is never mentioned throughout the story. For a while, his nickname was Fred since he resembled Holly’s brother. • We do not learn much of his life and mostly recalls events when he is with Holly. • He begins the story when Joe Bell shows him pictures of an African carving that resembles Holly. • Why do you think the narrator’s name was omitted?

6. pg1-11 • Narrator reminisces about his first apartment in New York • Why was the narrator fond of his first apartment? • His memory is triggered by a phone call from Joe Bell. • Both haven’t seen each other for years and Joe doesn’t give a reason about the phone call • Narrator thinks Joe has some information about Holly Golightly.

7. Pg 1-11… • After arriving, he has no information about her but a clue instead • They hadn’t seen Mr. Yunioshi in approximately 2 years he’s been in Africa • Joe Bell has an eveloped containing photographs from Mr. Yunioshi taken in Africa • One of the photos, the narrator recognizes a sculpture as an exact image of Holly Golightly. • What was the sculpture made out of?

8. Holly Golightly • The short novel is centered around this young girl. • When the narrator first saw her, she was a young 18 year old girl. “Her mouth was large, her nose upturned. A pair of dark glasses blotted out her eyes. It was a face beyond childhood, yet this side of belonging to a woman” (pg. 12) • She preferred older men, especially rich men.

9. Holly cont. • As we later find out throughout the novel, she was married as a young child. • She also visits Salvatore “Sally” Tomato every Thursday and tells his lawyer “the weather report”. She earns $100 per week.

10. Pg 11-26 • Back when he first moved into the apartments in New York • The first time he noticed an unusual card on one of the mailboxes: “ Miss Holiday Golightly; Traveling” (pg) • Mr. Yunioshi and Holly argued about ringing the door, since Holly lost her key • She stopped ringing Mr. Yunoishi door bell • Instead she rings the narrators door bell

11. Pg 11-26… • One night, Holly stands at the narrators fire escape watching him through the window • She calls him “Fred” because he looks like his brother, Fred • Both reveal something, she reveals that she “trained” herself to like older man and he reveals that he is a writer • Confesses that on Thursdays she goes to visit Sally Tomato, a mobster. “(Joe Bell showed me his picture in the paper. Blackhand. Mafia. All that mumbo jumbo: but they gave him five years)” (pg. 24)

12. Pg 26-48 • Holly leaves an apology note to the narrator saying she won’t bother him again • Then the following Thursday she leaves an invitation to her apartment • O.J. Berman is found on Holly’s apartment • While she takes a shower, both are talking about her being a “phony” • She plans to marry “Rusty Trawler”

13. Pg 26-48… • Holly’s apartment fills with strangers, men older than her • Mag Wildwood returns to the apartment and gets upset when she finds strangers at the apartment • On Sunday, both Mag and Holly talk about Mag’s relationship with Jose Yberra-Jaegar • Also discusses about his brother Fred • Mag talks about moving to Brazil with Jose once they get married • Holly pressures Mag for details about Jose sexual habits

14. Group Questions • How does the narrator know I.Y. Yunioshi? • Why does Joe Bell refuse to believe that Holly is in New York? 3. On what days does Holly visit Sally Tomato at Sing Sing? 4. How did Sally Tomato get Holly to visit?

15. O.J. Berman • “I’m the first one saw her. Out at Santa Anita. She’s hanging around the track every day. I’m interested: professionally” (pg. 30) • He guides Holly towards being an actress, and was even going to audition in The Story of Dr. Wassell for the part as Dr. Wassell’s nurse. • The day before the audition Holly calls Berman and tells him she’s in New York. • He still tries to be a guidance for Holly.

16. Pg 49-53 • Receives good news from a small university about his writing • Excited he goes to Holly’s apartment • Holly offers her congrutulations and takes him to lunch • They went to Joe Bell’s bar • After a while, each one tells their childhood story

17. Pg 53-60 • One afternoon, Holly enters a library and the narrator follows her • At Christmas-Eve, Holly and Mag made a party • Holly buys him the bird cage he admired • He buys her a St. Christopher’s medal • After the party, Rusty, Jose, Mag and Holly take a winter trip to key west • An incident caused a tension between Holly and Mag

18. Pg 60-70 • The narrator notices a suspicious man looking at Holly’s mailbox • The man follows him and sits besides him • The man, Doc Golightly, happens to be Holly’s husband • Doc Golightly tells the narrator the story about Holly and his brother Fred • Where does Doc Golightly approach the narrator?

19. Doc Golightly • Halfway through the novel, this character appears. • “That evening, on my way to supper, I saw the man again. He was standing across the street, leaning against a tree and staring up at Holly’s windows” (pg. 61). • One morning, Holly and her brother Fred were caught stealing milk and turkey eggs. • Holly, at only fourteen years old, married Doc. • “She knew good-and-well what she was doing when she promised to be my wife and the mother of my churren” (pg. 64) • According to Doc Golightly, what was Holly's original name?

20. Pg 71-75 • Narrator finds out that Mag and Rusty got married • Holly breaks down after receiving a telegram from Doc, saying that her brother, Fred, died in action, “It was a telegram from Tulip, Texas: Received notice young Fred killed in action overseas stop your husband and children join in the sorrow of our mutual loss stop letter follows love Doc” (Capote 75) • Holly stops referring to the narrator as Fred

21. Group Questions • 1. On September 30, what did the narrator do with Holly? • 2. What happened to the narrator? • 3. What happened to Holly? Why?

22. pg 75-105 • On September 30, Holly was arrested since she was involved with Sally Tomato. • Berman hires a lawyer to bail her out. • Holly goes to the hospital because she was very ill • Narrator hands her a letter to Holly • What did the letter say? • Pg 94 volunteer

23. Continued… • Holly still plans to go to Brazil • Narrator goes to her apartment to pick up her belongings and meets Holly at Joe’s Bar • The narrator and Joe help her escape • Joe hires a limousine to take her to the airport • Holly leaves and they never hear from her

24. Freedom • Holly represents freedom itself. A sense of adventure. • She constantly feels the need to escape from places and people. • Most of the time she is out and comes home very late. “She kept her promise to Mr. Yunioshi; or I assume she did not ring his bell again, for in the next days she started ringing mine, sometimes at two in the morning, three and four…” (pg. 14)

25. A Sense of Belonging • Throughout the novel, the idea of belongingness reoccurs. • Holly feels the need to constantly escape from things because she believes what ever situation it might be, does not belong to her.Such as the audition for the part of Dr. Wassell’s nurse; leaving Doc and her brother; moving to South America. She wants to feel at home, like she does at Tiffany’s. • She does not want to attach herself to anything, not even her own cat. (pg. 37&102) Volunteer.

26. Naming • The novel utilizes naming to signify a person’s character. • Both the narrator and cat remain nameless, which is used to portray a sense of distance. By remaining nameless, it is as if they do not “belong” to anyone. • Holly’s name change represents an attempt of removing her past roots.