Capote

Although I am in the process of finishing Truman Capote’s classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I feel confident enough to speak on the brilliant characterization in this piece. First off, Capote is an excellent story-teller and a masterful writer and I feel at times he expresses so eloquently the inner thoughts of his character just in the description of them through the eyes of another character that we never really know too much about. The narrator, who Holly Gollighlty constantly refers to as ‘Fred’, a name derivative of her older brother, illustrates through his observations alone in a rich, yet simple, language the complexity of the characters he comes across. It is almost incarnate in just their physical description that we are allowed to view interminable stare into their souls and humanity, and the progression of revelation is also well paced that the characters keep our interest throughout and make it seem completely plausible. The story at times seems highly implausible in these characters, but there is such honesty in their behavior and definition that we are led to believe that such a diverse array of colorful characters are readily available to anyone, and perhaps it is that they are.

The cast of characters is certainly enjoyable, people occupying the full spectrum of passions and affection, unsure of where they are in their lives with only the knowledge of where they are coming from, trying to obscure or cling onto the way things were. Capote’s narrator even says in the beginning that “he is drawn back to places [he] has already lived”, and this is evident even those who try to forget their past as they try to place a familiarity to new things. Holly does this when she names the narrator Fred, attempting to supplant the harsh world with a familiar presence that she is ultimately drawn to.

Holly is the central interest of this story as she navigates her way through the obstacles of her own making with the interest of those who become infatuated with her as her navigator. Capote has referred to her as his favorite character that he has ever written and it is undeniable to see the reason why. There is a baroque complexity to Holly, someone who enacts the luxurious lifestyle they know they are incapable of acquiring, but that never deters them from embodying everything that they hope to be. At the same time, she is accustomed to the desperations of hardship, as she steals and seduces men for money, saving up for her much anticipated ‘breakfast at Tiffany’s’. She is essentially an enigma that the whole story devotes itself to exploring and unraveling because within no doubt lies the gnarling psyche of someone whose life had left them so astonishingly scarred, as she had left home very young, that they had no choice but to don a mask to the world. She is improbable yet completely real in every fiber of her being. It is completely understandable to see why contemporaries of the film adaptation would argue that Marilyn Monroe is better suited to be Holly, mostly because in her real life, Marilyn probably very much was this enigma of a person.