Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of those weird cultural staples that literally everyone has heard of it.
The Cultural Phenomenon
Most people over a certain age have probably seen the movie, but ask them what it’s about, and they probably have no idea. It’s kind of fascinating to think how a novella/film gets to such a point. I can’t even think of another cultural phenomenon of this type.
I was pretty excited going into this for a few reasons. I, too, had seen the movie enough years ago to not remember it.
- Oh, there’s the long cigarette
- and a crazy cat
- and a wacky party girl
- and singing “Moon River”
- But what was it about?
- What was the plot?
The other reason I was excited was that Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is one of two books that has ever made me cry. The way he writes is breathtaking.
Pushing Boundaries
The first thing to jump out at me was the vulgarity of the language. It was published in 1958, so we’ve moved past short fiction that hides indiscretions (see below for other analyses).
But I still must imagine this novella pushed what was acceptable for the time. It openly talks about prostitution and homosexuality and a 14-year-old girl getting married to an adult man.
Plus, Holly’s language is very direct and crude (I don’t recall if she swears, though).
Lolita came out a few years before Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Tiffany’s doesn’t compare in disturbing imagery to that. So I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised.
It had more to do with tone than imagery, though.
Character Development
The novella is basically a long character study, and it does an excellent job at this. Holly has to be one of the strangest characters of all time.
Capote’s attention to detail is incredible. Almost every sentence that has Holly in it is crafted to expose some tiny piece of how her mind works.
An early example is that the location on her business card is: traveling.
At first, it comes off as chaos. Nothing about the character makes sense, and the sentences she speaks come out in a stream-of-consciousness level of confusion.
But then, by about halfway or so, she’ll do something weird, and you find yourself thinking: that’s so Holly. There appears to be a deep internal logic to it. Holly feels very real and knowable.
Plot and Theme
The plot itself is fairly melodramatic. It goes by at rapid-fire pace.
This short novella has Holly being in love with and engaged to several people. She travels to probably a dozen places, often not even in the U.S.
There are parties. She’s involved with a scheme to smuggle drugs orchestrated by a man in prison. She gets pregnant and miscarries.
It’s almost impossible to take stock of all that happens in this, and there’s almost no real emotion behind any of it.
Capote clearly did this on purpose. Holly’s character is flighty, and she often jumps into things without any thought. If we think of the novella as a character study, then all these crazy events occurring is part of the brilliance of the novella.
The plot doesn’t have weight for the main character, so it would be a mistake to have the events play a significant role to the reader. Holly moves on, and so should the reader.
What does Breakfast at Tiffany’s mean?
When Holly is terrified, unhappy, or furious, the concept of Tiffany’s, its perfection in her mind, and the brand helps her feel better. Tiffany’s is enticing to her because she believes that only nice things happen there.
Significance of Breakfast at Tiffany’s
And now we come full circle. No one remembers the plot to Breakfast at Tiffany’s by design. We’re only meant to remember Holly. Even her last name is “Golightly.”
The only moments of emotional poignancy are when the narrator reflects on it all, and when we see beneath Holly’s shell.
He falls in love with Holly for real (this is a bit of a theme to the book: what is love?). This is quite well done because it contrasts so starkly with Holly’s indifference and shows how devastating her indifference can be as she tears through people’s lives.
Capote gives Holly one piece of depth that prevents her from being some caricature of a socialite. She cares deeply about her brother, and it is probably the only real human connection she’s ever had.
A lot of her carefree attitude stems from a disturbing fact dropped subtly in tiny details. She runs from human connection because of the psychological trauma of being a child bride.
Overall, the novella was way better than I expected in terms of character development.
It was also sort of disappointing in a way.
I went in expecting it to be a romance between the narrator and Holly done in a brilliant literary Capote-esque way. It’s not that at all. But once you get over the initial shock (and genre confusion), it’s brilliant.
