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Summary

The next day Holly leaves a gift basket for the narrator, with a note thanking him and saying she won’t bother him again. In return, the narrator leaves her violets with a note saying, “Please do.” He does not hear from Holly for a week, during which time he thinks of her frequently. On Wednesday, he sends Holly a note reminding her that tomorrow is Thursday (her day to visit Sally), because she had mentioned never remembering when Thursday is coming. In return, Holly invites him to her apartment for drinks that evening. 

When the narrator arrives at Holly’s place, a talent agent named O.J. Berman answers the door. As he and the narrator talk while waiting for Holly to finish showering, Berman asks whether the narrator thinks Holly is a phony. The narrator says no. Berman replies that she is, but she’s a “real phony”—by which he means that what she believes is ridiculous, but she genuinely believes it. He describes discovering Holly, getting rid of her unplaceable Southern accent by having her take French lessons, and trying to make her into a movie star. Holly was all set to audition for a big movie, but according to Berman she skipped town to New York the night before, because she didn’t want the role. Thus her acting career was over before it began. At that point Holly enters, wrapped in a towel, and promptly urges Berman to use his film industry connections to help the narrator with his writing career. Holly then leaves to get dressed.

An assortment of older men show up, all of whom look surprised to see the other men there. One man stands out to the narrator by acting as genial party host but under Holly’s direction. This man is Rusty Trawler, a wealthy, oversized infant of a man whose company Holly has been keeping. Holly talks to the narrator about how she could never have been a movie star and launches into a monologue about how she only feels relaxed at Tiffany’s, the luxury jewelry store. She mentions her dream of raising horses by the sea in Mexico with Fred. Rusty comes over and bickers with Holly. After he leaves, the narrator asks Holly whether she loves Rusty, to which she replies that you can make yourself love anyone. Rusty is rich, and land in Mexico costs money.

One of Holly’s friends, Mag Wildwood, shows up and starts mingling with the men. The narrator learns that Mag is a model and socialite. When Mag leaves to use the restroom, Holly implies to the men that Mag has a venereal disease, causing them to shun her when she returns. Mag gets drunk and has a frustrated breakdown, insulting many of the guests. She falls asleep after the men leave. To the narrator’s surprise, Holly lets Mag stay at her place for the next few days.

One day, the narrator overhears a conversation between the two women in which they talk about Mag’s boyfriend, the Brazilian diplomat José Ybarra-Jaegar, the war, and men in general. When Mag refers to the narrator as stupid, Holly defends him (in her own way) by saying that his yearning for acceptance only makes him look stupid. Mag officially moves in with Holly.

Analysis

Holly’s magnetic nature is evident in how she pulls the narrator into her world, and readers get more insight into how Holly is perceived by others. Berman draws attention to the question of Holly’s authenticity by asking whether the narrator believes she is a “phony.” His theory that what she believes is nonsensical but that she believes it genuinely presents one lens for the reader to see Holly through. Berman’s revelation that Holly once spoke with a pronounced but geographically ambiguous Southern accent emphasizes her mysterious origins and implies that her present manner of speaking is an artifice, much like her hair. At one point, Berman kicks Holly’s cat. Given that the cat will be developed as a symbol of the possibility of home for Holly, Berman’s action confirms that Holly never would have found a home in Hollywood.

Read about The Cat as a symbol in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

When Holly talks to the narrator about her past, she declares she could never have been a movie star, because in her view, movie stardom requires one to have no ego. When she’s rich and famous, she says, “I'd like to have my ego tagging along. I want to still be me when I wake up one fine morning and have breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Holly wants quite badly to be a part of the glamorous upper class, yet she wants to do it on her own terms, sensing the inauthenticity that is rife in that setting. Despite her misgivings, she talks about how Tiffany’s is the only place she feels at peace, showing her idealized view of what it would be like to truly be a part of the elegant elite. In this conversation, she also talks about how she won’t name her cat, because they are independent beings living together and he doesn’t belong to her. Holly’s arms-length relationship with her cat signifies her ongoing search for a place where she feels at home.

Read an important quote about the theme of authenticity in the novella.

Holly prizes authenticity, but she feels free to adapt that ideal to her own advantage. She’s friends with Mag, yet sabotages her at the party when Mag attracts too much male attention. She invites Mag to live with her, yet remarks to the narrator that she’s doing so because Mag is “a fool” and easy to manipulate. Many would consider those things inauthentic, yet they fit perfectly into Holly’s own concept of her authenticity. It is left up to the reader to decide whether that concept is complex, or simply self-centered.

Read about the Authenticity as a theme in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

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