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Joe Bell is the proprietor of a nearby bar that Holly and the narrator frequent. Joe is, by his own admission, a hard man to talk to. Joe and the narrator share an affection for Holly, which is not romantic in nature but rather a kind of protective instinct, which they also share with Doc Golightly. Joe fits the popular image of a gay man (at the time of the novella’s writing), a bachelor with interests that include musical theater and flower arranging. At the end of the novella, Joe books a ride to the airport for Holly even though he disapproves of her running away. Joe acts both as a tool to move the plot along, inspiring the narrator to write about Holly and delivering information about her, and as an example of how magnetic Holly’s personality is, captivating those around her.

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