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BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S THEMATIC ANALYSIS

Introduction

Holly Golightly is the prominent persona of Capote's literary fantasy book which is centered

around New York City following  World War II and chronicles her journey through life. Holly is

a well-dressed nineteen-year-old lady carrying a dark secret from her past. The novella is told

from the narrator's point of view, the main character. Taking place on the North  Eastern Side of

Manhattan in the latter years of postwar, Breakfast at Tiffany's tells the story of a young woman

named Tiffany. Holly Golightly captivates and mesmerizes a young writer drawn to her and

partly entranced by her. It's hard to look away from Holly's disarming appeal, which comes from

having a troubled childhood. The narrator has migrated to New York in the hopes of achieving

excellence as a short story writer to further their career. In the narrative, he is never addressed by

his name. He has a strong attraction to Holly, who appears completely different from him.

Although the character is speaking in the first person, his curiosity with and ultimately love for

Holly causes him to emphasize Holly over himself.

Through the novel's depiction of rising issues in post-war America and its look ahead to the

stormy 1960s, Breakfast at Tiffany's is a must-see. After turning its focus away from seditionists

in the late 1950s, Congress switched to the Mafia. Proceedings showed the Mafia's involvement

in selling narcotics and its infiltration into café culture. Holly Golightly, played by Truman

Capote, finally becomes embroiled in this incident. Her godfather, Sally Tomato, happens to be

a Mafia leader who is now incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Tasked with making

the elderly man delighted by seeing him every Thursday morning, Holly accepts, unaware that

Sally and his accomplice Oliver O'Shaughnessy are just utilizing her to send messages about the
drug business. At the story's peak, she is detained, and the resulting incident not only ends up

making her a social outcast but essentially ends up costing her everything.

Thesis Statement – Truman's writing portrays several themes, which we will review in this essay,

including nature and culture, diversity in sexuality and love, diversity vs freedom, e.t.c. These

themes are a reflection of the transitioning America. I argue that freedom vs stability and money

overrules other themes emerging from Truman's Novel in my writing.

Stability and Freedom

Every human has a strong urge to be free in some manner. Even nations under imperialism and

the civil war in America strived for freedom and independence. It is only by remaining above

water, remaining steady, and maintaining a sense of balance that one may achieve true freedom.

Truman Capote's novel "Breakfast at Tiffany's" depict the clashes between freedom and stability.

Capote demonstrates how both will need to gain lessons from each other to thrive in their

endeavours, with two characters opposed to one another. The presents that the narrator and

Holly share for Christmas in the novel reflect their freedom and stability, respectively. When

Holly presents the narrator with a birdcage, she assures him that no bird will ever be kept in it.

When Holly goes to the zoo for the first time, the narrator describes how she feels about putting

animals in cages. On their excursion to the city, they avoided the zoo since she couldn't stand the

sight of anything imprisoned. Instead, they laughed and raced down the trails to the

rusty wooden boathouse, no longer there. As a result, Holly is affording the narrator her sense of

control.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is arguably most known for depicting the psychological conflict between

the necessity for stability and the urge for liberty.  When Holly and the, who are diametrical
opposed, engage in conflict, it shapes their relationship.   In contrast to the narrator, who is

delighted to have got his first house, Holly's obsession with her urge to flee from people, places,

and situations. Everything, including Holly's very personality, is constantly changing. Holly

identifies with "Holiday Golightly", which is not her real name, as a way to epitomize her

technique of shunning stability through creating a vacation from life and fleeing attachments and

obligations if they seem to undermine her liberty. Holly's contrast between stability and liberty is

emphasized by two key elements: animals, especially Holly's cat, and Tiffany's, which

symbolizes her emblem of home. Animal enclosure bothers Holly, who also opposes giving her

cat a name. She considers him a "wild beast" and does not consider "hers." Her hope that

someday she would enjoy "breakfast at Tiffany's," an oxymoron as Tiffany's doesn't quite offer

food, demonstrates her choosing to escape stability by painting it in the unachievable standards

of fantasy.

By portraying the two major protagonists on opposing sides of the stability and freedom split,

Capote indicates that they need to learn from one another. The Christmas present interchange

highlights the reciprocal effect of the two friends, wherein Holly gifts the narrator a  cage and the

narrator presents her a medal of St. Christopher. Each present depicts a midway between stability

and freedom. By the ending of Breakfast at Tiffany's, it is evident that this impact has,  partially,

been achieved: Holly admits her feeling of "connectedness" with the pet, and the narrator

discloses that, since the ending of their companionship, he has relished prolonged excursions

across the globe.

Although Holly and the narrator symbolize distinct psychological urges for stability and

independence, the novel argues that the two protagonist disorders originate from the sensation of

social alienation common to persons whose lives do not correspond to American standards.
Furthermore, both protagonists are preoccupied with the feeling that they aren't "at home" in the

wider picture. The narrator depicts his self-imagery as a perpetual intruder pushing his nose

against a pane. At the same time, Holly is persuaded that she is a 'wild animal", unfit to a decent

position in society. Accordingly, its evident that Holly and the narrator are alike since to both,

"home" has turned out to be a heated ideal of fantasy and desire. The narrative depicts the

protagonist's craving for stability. 

Conclusion

Throughout Truman's writing, themes such as stability, freedom, love, diversity, and money are

clear. The major focus is primarily on the freedom and stability theme. However, themes such as

materialistic love are portrayed by Holly's actions. Holly's urge to marry wealthy puts money

above love, which isn't critical for Holly regarding relationships or marrying. Diversity of love

theme comes along with criticisms such as Holly Golightly. She, in some dimension, is portrayed

as a criminal and a damaged call girl running away from her past and incapable of love. What

defines, enriches, and sometimes destroys relationships is the core of Breakfast at Tiffany's. " No

sex, desire or need makes non-romantic relationships preferable," claims Capote.

Breakfast at Tiffany's contrasts loves with want, contrasting Holly's desire-driven relationships

with her desire-free interactions. Her relationships with Jose, Berman, Rusty Trawler and  Mag,

are all predicated by necessity. Mag wants Holly's social connections and apartment. In contrast,

Berman wants to benefit from Holly's ability as an actress wants what these individuals can give

her in exchange, whether it is money, professional relationships, or simple assistance. Holly's

stance regarding classical morality mirrors the early phases of the sexual revolution in 1958. She

talks about prostitution and homosexuality to make it seem like she supports it. Much of the
criticism directed at the book stems from Capote's portrayal of Holly as an innocent and

intelligent character rather than a villain.

Works Cited

Capote, Truman. "Breakfast at Tiffany's Chapter 8." Shmoop, 2019, www.shmoop.com/study-

guides/literature/breakfast-at-tiffanys/summary/chapter-8.

Logan, Elizabeth. "3 *Breakfast at Tiffany's* Problems No One Ever Talks About." Glamour, 30

Dec. 2016, www.glamour.com/story/breakfast-at-tiffanys-problems.

Capote, Truman. Breakfast at Tiffany's. Revised Edition, Signet, 2022.

Capote, By Truman. "Breakfast at Tiffany's Themes." Copyright GradeSaver, 1999 - 2022, 18

Oct. 2021, www.gradesaver.com/breakfast-at-tiffanys/study-guide/themes.