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The narrator is an aspiring writer who lives in the same brownstone building as Holly Golightly and strikes up a friendship with her. He supplies very little personal information about himself, instead focusing on recounting his personal history with Holly and what he knows about her life. His disinterest in talking about himself in this narrative is so extreme that his name is never revealed. For much of the novel he is referred to as Fred, after Holly remarks, during their first in-depth conversation, that the narrator reminds her of her brother Fred. The narrator’s allowing Holly to call him Fred shows his affection for her and emphasizes how the narrative is about Holly. The narrator’s lack of name also allows him to act as a stand-in for the reader. 

The narrator’s relationship with Holly goes through ups and downs. At times he seems like one of Holly’s only true friends, yet his affection for her is fragile enough that one conversation in which she insults his writing is enough to make him want to hit her (although he abstains) and causes a falling out between the two. They later grow back together, yet his feelings for her remain complicated when he incorrectly believes her to have married Rusty Trawler, and later when she does become engaged to José Ybarra-Jaegar. He admits to jealousy, but clarifies that the kind of love he has for Holly is not romantic. While the story is undoubtedly about Holly, everything is filtered through the lens of the narrator’s perception, leaving the reader to wonder what biases the narrator might have, that may color his recounting of the events of the novella.

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