’s Essay, Research Paper
Truman Capote wrote the novel Breakfast at
Tiffany’s without a rhyme or a reason.
He used real life characters possessing different
names. It is stated that the narrator just might have
been Truman himself during his early years in New
York. It is clear that Mr. Capote does not believe in
traditional values. He himself did come from a wealthy
unorthodox family life. Capote’s ideal woman was
created in Holly Golightly, also know as Lulamae
Barnes before she was married as a child bride to a
southerner named Doc Golightly. Other people Capote
met in his experiences where also included, such as
Mag Wildwood (a cunning southern bell from Arkansas
who had stolen away Holly?s would be boyfriend, Rusty
Trawler.), Sally Tomato ( a stock mobster inclined to
use innocent girls to fulfill his own needs.), O.J. Berman
( a typical Hollywood agent picking up young girls from
the mid-west promising them stardom.) Joe Bell (a shy
bar owner who conceals his feeling about the
rambunctious Holly.), and Jose` Ybarra-Jaegar ( an
eccentric Brazilian politician who was involved with
Holly for some time.) All or these characters here used
to add depth and local color to the story.
The theme of the novel is, friendship can make
people take drastic measures in helping a friend, which
is explained by the narrator?s relationship with Holly.
The narrator goes out of his way to be with Holly, such
as horse back riding even though he is uneasy about
horses and stealing masks from a costume store. The
narrator also tries to help Holly as much as possible by
taking care of her one-eyed cat while she was gone and
helping her escape from jail. This novel appears to be
written for pleasure purposes. At the beginning of the
novel the narrator starts by explaining the friendship
between Joe Bell, Holly, and himself. Capote keeps the
reader on his or her toes by there being arguments that
would create conflicts putting a halt to the friendships
between the main characters. Such as when Holly
travels to Brazil with Mag, Jose` Ybarra-Jaegar, and
Rusty Trawler ( Holly?s current boyfriend before Mag
had stolen him away and left Holly grateful , but only for
awhile, with Jose`) Then, after all was finished, Holly
and the narrator would meet and make up over a drink
at Joe Bell’s bar or Holly’s apartment room. The whole
novel is based around an eccentric friendship. The
friendship is still maintained long after Holly?s apparent
disappearance from society.
The literary movement in this story is Authentic
Modernism. Authentic Modernism is marked by a strong
and conscious break with traditional forms and
techniques. It is a means for an author to live out his
fantasies by writing about them. It also implies a
historical discontinuity, a sense of alienation, of loss, of
despair. It rejects history and its society and
traditional values. It prefers the unconscious to the
self-conscious. " You b-b-boys not vexed at me for
butting in on your p-p-party." was said by Mag
Wildwood, one of Holly’s party friends. Another quote
from the story showing unconventional technique and
humor is Mag saying," I’ve ten pairs of Argyles in less
than three months. And this is the second sweater.
What’s the point, though? Sweaters in Brazil. I ought to
be making s-s-sun helmets. . Holly Golightly is a
nineteen year-old self-sufficient woman. Some of her
personality traits are admirable, affectionate, while
being sort of cold hearted. She is motivated in life by
striving for her purpose in life, which is to be rich and
famous while keeping her ego. She believes that love is
not sexual. An important action that Holly did was to
make peace with the narrator so easily after a fight,
this reinforces Capote’s concept of friendship. Other
characters responded very well to Holly, she was very
easy to befriend. She had a short relationship with the
Brazilian politician Jose` Ybarra-Jaegar, but that was
ended by her arrest for helping a drug triangle headed
by Sally Tomato unknowingly. She was seeing Sally in
jail just to comfort him but Sally was really using her to
relay information to his drug empire. Holly was a
unique character; she was so well liked because she
had a peculiar approach to situations.
In conclusion, Capote’s ideal woman was created
in Holly Golightly. The theme reached is, friendship can
make people take drastic measures in helping a friend,
which is displayed by the narrator?s actions toward
Holly. Capote used Authentic Modernism brilliantly.
Holly was well liked by everyone she came into
contact, even though she came across as
inconsiderate. Capote creates Holly for his own
pleasure and writes her in an unorthodox way. Holly
was an unrealistic person in a realistic world
interacting with real people is a surreal way.
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