Truman Capote wrote the novel Breakfast atTiffany’s without a rhyme or a reason. He used real life characters possessing differentnames. It is stated that the narrator just might havebeen Truman himself during his early years in NewYork. It is clear that Mr. Capote does not believe intraditional values. He himself did come from a wealthyunorthodox family life.
Capote’s ideal woman wascreated in Holly Golightly, also know as LulamaeBarnes before she was married as a child bride to asoutherner named Doc Golightly. Other people Capotemet in his experiences where also included, such asMag Wildwood (a cunning southern bell from Arkansaswho had stolen away Hollys would be boyfriend, RustyTrawler. ), Sally Tomato ( a stock mobster inclined touse innocent girls to fulfill his own needs. ), O. J.
Berman( a typical Hollywood agent picking up young girls fromthe mid-west promising them stardom. ) Joe Bell (a shybar owner who conceals his feeling about therambunctious Holly. ), and Jose` Ybarra-Jaegar ( aneccentric Brazilian politician who was involved withHolly for some time. ) All or these characters here usedto add depth and local color to the story.
The theme of the novel is, friendship can makepeople take drastic measures in helping a friend, whichis explained by the narrators relationship with Holly. The narrator goes out of his way to be with Holly, suchas horse back riding even though he is uneasy abouthorses and stealing masks from a costume store. Thenarrator also tries to help Holly as much as possible bytaking care of her one-eyed cat while she was gone andhelping her escape from jail. This novel appears to bewritten for pleasure purposes. At the beginning of thenovel the narrator starts by explaining the friendshipbetween Joe Bell, Holly, and himself.
Capote keeps thereader on his or her toes by there being arguments thatwould create conflicts putting a halt to the friendshipsbetween the main characters. Such as when Hollytravels to Brazil with Mag, Jose` Ybarra-Jaegar, andRusty Trawler ( Hollys current boyfriend before Maghad stolen him away and left Holly grateful , but only forawhile, with Jose`) Then, after all was finished, Hollyand the narrator would meet and make up over a drinkat Joe Bell’s bar or Holly’s apartment room. The wholenovel is based around an eccentric friendship. Thefriendship is still maintained long after Hollys apparentdisappearance from society. The literary movement in this story is AuthenticModernism. Authentic Modernism is marked by a strongand conscious break with traditional forms andtechniques.
It is a means for an author to live out hisfantasies by writing about them. It also implies ahistorical discontinuity, a sense of alienation, of loss, ofdespair. It rejects history and its society andtraditional values. It prefers the unconscious to theself-conscious.
” You b-b-boys not vexed at me forbutting in on your p-p-party. ” was said by MagWildwood, one of Holly’s party friends. Another quotefrom the story showing unconventional technique andhumor is Mag saying,” I’ve ten pairs of Argyles in lessthan three months. And this is the second sweater. What’s the point, though’sweaters in Brazil.
I ought tobe making s-s-sun helmets. . Holly Golightly is anineteen year-old self-sufficient woman. Some of herpersonality traits are admirable, affectionate, whilebeing sort of cold hearted.
She is motivated in life bystriving for her purpose in life, which is to be rich andfamous while keeping her ego. She believes that love isnot sexual. An important action that Holly did was tomake peace with the narrator so easily after a fight,this reinforces Capote’s concept of friendship. Othercharacters responded very well to Holly, she was veryeasy to befriend. She had a short relationship with theBrazilian politician Jose` Ybarra-Jaegar, but that wasended by her arrest for helping a drug triangle headedby Sally Tomato unknowingly. She was seeing Sally injail just to comfort him but Sally was really using her torelay information to his drug empire.
Holly was aunique character; she was so well liked because shehad a peculiar approach to situations. In conclusion, Capote’s ideal woman was createdin Holly Golightly. The theme reached is, friendship canmake people take drastic measures in helping a friend,which is displayed by the narrators actions towardHolly. Capote used Authentic Modernism brilliantly. Holly was well liked by everyone she came intocontact, even though she came across asinconsiderate. Capote creates Holly for his ownpleasure and writes her in an unorthodox way.
Hollywas an unrealistic person in a realistic worldinteracting with real people is a surreal way. Category: English
