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Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote -the narrative elements involved

in it.
Genre. Breakfast at Tiffany's is a novel (literary fiction) by Truman
Capote, published in 1958.
Plot. In it, a contemporary writer recalls his early days in New York City.
In autumn 1943, the unnamed narrator befriends his remarkable neighbor Holly
Golightly (who is one of Capote's best-known creations). The two are tenants in
a brownstone apartment in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
It is the story of this woman in World War II-era New York who has no
job and lives by socializing with wealthy men, who take her to clubs and
restaurants, and give her money and expensive presents; she hopes to marry one
of them. According to Capote, Golightly is not a prostitute, but an "American
geisha".
Holly likes to shock people with carefully selected tidbits from her
personal life or her outspoken viewpoints on various topics. Over the course of a
year, she slowly reveals herself to the narrator, who finds himself quite
fascinated by her curious lifestyle. She breaks many hearts along the way, all
while struggling to find her place in the world.
Yet she also has a maternal, caring side to her. She takes care of people
and judges them only by the way they treat her. Holly is in a constant state of
flux. There is no furniture in her apartment, and most of her belongings are in
boxes. She has a cat that she refuses to name and she cannot bear the thought of
putting down roots.
Holly visits a man in Sing Sing named Sally Tomato. Tomato's lawyer
pays Holly to visit him and deliver and receive messages. Because Mr. Tomato
is so kind to Holly, she thinks nothing of this. She assumes he is a lonely old
man who just wants some company. The narrator warns her that there could be
serious legal ramifications about this, but she doesn't listen to him.
Holly is quite elusive about her past, speaking only of her brother Fred
who is in the Army. One day, the narrator sees an older man haunting the
brownstone and discovers that this man is Holly's husband. She married him in
Texas when she was fourteen years old. Holly gently tells her husband, Doc
Golightly, that she can't be with him anymore, and sends him on his way.
Soon after, Holly receives a telegram from Doc informing her that her
beloved brother Fred has been killed in the war. She loses control, smashing
everything in her apartment, and a doctor comes and gives her a shot that makes
her go to sleep. After this episode, Holly settles down. She stays at home, cooks,
puts on weight, and buys some furniture. She plans to marry Jose, a Brazilian
man of her acquaintance, and she begins making plans.
One day, Holly is arrested for being involved in an international drug
ring. The mastermind is Sally Tomato, and Holly has been assisting in the drug
ring's communications. Jose cannot bring himself to marry a woman who is a
criminal; he's a politician in Latin America. He leaves her without saying good-
bye.
The narrator, ever loyal, helps Holly to flee the country. She doesn't want
to stay in a place where people think ill of her, and she has a free plane ticket to
Brazil. The narrator later receives a postcard from Buenos Aires. He promises to
find the cat, which finds a permanent home in the Spanish Harlem.
Setting: the setting is a mixture of more elements- it's the World War II
and New York and the brownstone apartment building. And it’ s Holly's
apartment and the things this space represents for the various characters.
Conflict. Holly and the narrator have an argument on Christmas Eve. The
narrator and Holly do not understand each other. Holly does not understand
what the narrator writes and he does not understand Holly's interpretation of art
or his writings.
Point of view: Breakfast at Tiffany's is told in the first person limited,
from the point of view of an unnamed narrator. And the narrator in this story is
interesting since he is telling us his story but, in the end, the novel is mostly
about Holly.
Characters
Main characters: The narrator, Holly Golightly
The unnamed narrator-writer: a starting writer who relates his memories
of Holly Golightly, the people in her life, and his relationship with her. “Fred”
Holiday (Holly) Golightly: downstairs neighbor and center of attention of
the writer's memoirs. Holly Golightly became Capote's favorite character of all
the ones he created (some say this is because Holly resembles Capote).
Joe Bell: A bartender acquainted with both the writer and Holly.
Mag Wildwood: Holly's friend and sometime roommate, a fellow socialite
and model.
Rusty Trawler: A presumably wealthy man, thrice divorced, well known
in society circles.
José Ybarra-Jaegar: A Brazilian diplomat, who is the companion of Mag
Wildwood and, later, of Holly.
Doc Golightly: A veterinarian from Texas, whom Holly married as a
teenager.
O. J. Berman: A Hollywood agent, who has discovered Holly and
groomed her to become a professional actress.
 Salvatore "Sally" Tomato: A convicted racketeer, whom Holly visits
weekly in Sing Sing prison.
Madame Sapphia Spanella: Another tenant in the brownstone.
Mr. I. Y. Yunioshi: A Japanese photographer, who lives in the top floor
studio apartment of the brownstone.
Themes:
In many ways, Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's is a story about the
human desire for companionship and love. Although Holly Golightly is an
independent young woman who makes her own way in the world and refuses to
let others interfere with her individuality, she also appreciates the value of
human connection.
Isolation-Isolation, the desire for it, and the fear of it, are central themes
in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Friendship-The friendships in this novel are, for the most part, superficial
and are often based on what one person can get from another. But every once in
a while true friendship develops.
Dreams, Hopes, and Plans-Breakfast at Tiffany's is about looking forward
to the future and about the dreams, hopes, and plans we make for ourselves and
also about when these same hopes, and plans are shattered, with devastating
effects on characters life.
Memory and the Past- Memory and the past are both positive and
negative forces.
Transience- It's the desire to remain unfettered and unchained that
propels Holly and that drives much of the action of the story. In a world marked
by transience, it's hard to know what to hold onto.
Freedom and Confinement- The need for freedom compels characters to
act in strange ways in order to protect their independence, and they react just as
strongly when they experience an impending sense of confinement. The desire
for freedom also prevents some characters from allowing others to get too close.
The Home- For some, home is a feeling of belonging, and it doesn't
matter where this is. For others, home has to do with the people who surround
them and who make them feel safe. Home is not just the literal place where one
lives. It's not the apartment or house that gives someone an address.
Love- We are presented with a lot of different ideas about what love
really is. Instances of unconditional love, unrequited love, love between friends,
and love in the more traditional sense. At some point in the novel, each of these
types of love result in pain and sadness. There is no fairy-tale love in this story.
Instead, we get a more realistic picture of love – complicated, messy, and
sometimes extremely painful.