Breakfast at Tiffany's Themes
The main themes in Breakfast at Tiffany's are freedom versus stability, money, and memory.
- Freedom versus stability: Holly's character is built entirely around the fact that she's always moving, searching for a place to call home. It's unclear whether or not she finds one.
- Money: Holly's desire to marry rich prioritizes money over love, which isn't a significant factor for Holly when it comes to dating or marriage.
- Memory: As he reminisces about Holly, and the narrator explores the notion of memory and personal history. Doc Golightly reveals Holly's own tragic past, hinting at the role of memory in shaping people.
Quest for Meaningful Connections
The main theme of Breakfast at Tiffany's centers on the search for meaningful connections with people and places. The outsider yearns for what is within reach, with their face pressed against the glass. The narrator, now familiar with New York life, reminisces about his first apartment in the city. Although it was neither luxurious nor stylish, it represented personal freedom for him. It was in this humble apartment that he began his writing career and met Holly Golightly. While he feels at home in his space, Holly is the complete opposite—a constant outsider, only partially accepted and never truly fitting in. Her door displays the sign "Miss Holiday Golightly, Traveling," and her apartment is cluttered with packing crates. She refuses to "own" anything, not even her cat, until she finds a place that feels like home.
Search for a Place to Belong
The narrator faces challenges in uncovering Holly's background, eventually learning that she has resided in Texas, California, Brazil, Argentina, and perhaps even Africa. Even years later, as he writes about her, he suspects she might still be roaming, trying to find a place to call home. Meanwhile, the narrator views himself as well-rooted in New York.
Impermanence of Relationships
Holly's connections with others are fleeting. Prior to her friendship with the narrator, Holly seems to have no intimate companions. Affluent men often visit her, yet she maintains an emotional barrier, appearing more focused on their financial aid than their companionship. Likewise, she depends on other residents in her apartment building, frequently ringing their doorbells at odd hours when she loses her key. The narrator discovers that her sole true allegiance is to her brother, Fred, despite having left him when she parted ways with Doc Golightly in Tulip, Texas.
Personal Freedom and Identity
Holly has created a distinct persona where personal liberty is a central aspect. She tells the narrator that she loathes any kind of restriction. Doc Golighdy discloses that she is truly a "wild thing" named Lulamae Barnes, who arrived at his farm as a starving fourteen-year-old. He took in both her and her brother, eventually marrying her. However, she was unhappy with her roles as a wife and stepmother; he recalls how she would frequently stare at the sky until she chose to seek a life beyond the farm. Gradually, she ventured farther down the road each day until one day she never returned.
Exploration of Roles and Identity
Despite Doc's insistence that Holly remains his wife, she tells the narrator that their marriage has no legal standing. She has conveniently ignored this fact while trying out different identities, such as a Hollywood starlet, a New York "escort," and a surrogate niece to Sally Tomato. In each of these roles, Holly is on a quest to find her true home—a place where she feels she belongs—and a family with whom she feels a genuine connection. For a short time, she considers the narrator as a surrogate brother and sees Jose Ybarra-Jaegar as a possible husband and father for her future children. However, when this dream falls apart, Holly returns to her wandering lifestyle and is rumored to have been spotted in a distant African village, a fitting place for someone as untamed as she is.
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