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In 1940s New York City, the shadow of World War II looms large over the characters in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The war impacts the characters in ways both big and small, from Holly losing her brother to everyone having to deal with rationing of certain consumer goods. Holly and Mag’s conversation about Mag’s relationship with the Brazilian diplomat José Ybarra-Jaegar provides a window into the hyper-patriotic attitudes that were on the rise at the time. Mag, intensely nationalistic, celebrates America at the expense of other countries, whereas Holly has a more internationalist outlook that leaves room for curiosity about the world beyond U.S. borders. New York is a natural, comfortable environment for a character with sensibilities as cosmopolitan as Holly Golightly’s. A hub for the true members of high society, the aspiring well-to-do, and struggling creatives alike, the city provides a place to explore the artifice of the upper class and the intensity with which people aspire to become a part of it.

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