47 pages • 1 hour read
Breakfast at Tiffany's
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 17-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 17 Summary
Holly delays her release on bail for several days until she is ready to leave for Brazil. On the day of her flight, she knows that her apartment is being watched so she goes to Joe Bell's bar. Joe then goes to the narrator, who packs up Holly's possessions. He collects her "going-away belongings" (92), including her cat and the medal of St. Christopher that he gave to her at Christmas. The narrator and Holly share a drink at Joe's bar, where Joe watches on disapprovingly. Though he is worried that Holly is making an illegal mistake, Joe calls for a "chauffeured limousine" (93) for Holly.
Chapter 18 Summary
The narrator and Holly ride in the limo to the airport, "too preoccupied for conversation" (94). In Harlem, Holly asks the driver to stop. When the car pulls over, she lets the cat out. When she tells the cat to go, the cat stays and rubs against Holly's leg. As she tells the driver to continue the journey, she explains to the narrator that she and the cat "never made each other any promises" (95). During her explanation, however, she changes her mind. She wants to go back and search for the cat but the cat is now gone. The narrator promises to return and find the cat. Accepting this proposal, Holly confesses that she is having doubts about her plans. She is "very scared" (96) because her form of detached existence could continue on forever. Nevertheless, she tells the driver to continue to the airport.
Chapter 19 Summary
Holly leaves for Brazil and months pass by. The narrator hears nothing. The following Christmas, Sally Tomato dies and Holly's name is mentioned in passing in the newspaper articles. Other than these mentions, her name fades from the public memory. In spring, Holly sends a postcard to the narrator, "signed with a lipstick kiss" (97). She tells him that she is now in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and she loves it very much, even if it is not quite Tiffany's jewelry store. She has become the lover of a wealthy family man and she promises to send her new address to the narrator, just as soon as she finds an apartment. However, the narrator never hears from Holly again.
The narrator wishes that he could talk to Holly again. By now, he has sold several pieces of writing and he wishes that he could tell her. He would also like to tell her that Mag and Rusty have filed for divorce. The narrator now feels that the brownstone apartment building is haunted so he is moving out. Most of all, he wants to tell Holly that he went looking for her cat. He spotted the cat sitting in a pleasant apartment and was satisfied that it had found "somewhere he belonged" (97). He wonders whether the cat's new owners have given it a name. He hopes that Holly, like her cat, has now found somewhere where she belongs.
Chapters 17-19 Analysis
Holly's decision to flee the country is an example of decisive action. Though she is worried that she has spent so much of her life drifting in a directionless manner, she seizes control of her future and acts in a way that cannot be undone. Choosing to flee the United States will make her a criminal. The newspapers may have accused Holly of associating with criminals but fleeing the country will decisively place her on the wrong side of the law. Furthermore, the decision to skip bail will confirm—in the minds of many people—the salacious rumors which are dogging her in the press. She will likely be unable to return, so she is therefore exiling herself from the country of her birth. Far from a directionless drift, this decision is firm and irreversible. The decision to leave the United States represents a key moment in the narrative where Holly takes control of her future. Even though she is backed into an impossible decision, she chooses to exert her agency over her life and drive forward in the manner she wants, rather than the manner that is imposed upon her.
Holly's turn toward decisiveness is not without moments of hesitation. Her interactions with her cat illustrate the difficult decision that she faces. The unnamed cat is one of the most important figures in Holly's life. More than any actual person, she empathizes with the cat. Like her, she feels the cat does not belong to anybody. The cat is the author of its own identity and its own fate. By letting it go, Holly hopes that she is allowing the cat to retain the agency which defined it in her mind. However, Holly falters—she changes her mind and tries to retrieve the cat. This momentary hesitation comes because Holly reinterprets her relationship with the cat, wondering whether they were meant to be together. This hesitation toward the cat is an extension of her doubts about her future: If she was wrong about her relationship with the cat, then she may be wrong about the decision to flee the country. She changes her mind briefly and then returns to her original plan, accepting her fate and choosing to act. The narrator provides comfort. He offers to find the cat, allowing Holly to follow through on her plan. For the first time in her life, someone has offered Holly—and the cat that she believes represents her—genuine, altruistic support. This show of platonic affection from the narrator without the expectation of anything in return gives Holly the strength she needs to return to her journey.
After Holly's departure, the narrator searches for the cat. He does not take the cat home with him, as he finds that the cat has already found a home. Once more, the narrator is reduced to being a voyeuristic observer. He watches the cat in its new home, surrounded by a loving family. While the narrator remains the same, he hopes that the cat's success means that Holly will be able to find a similarly loving environment. The narrator lacks the capacity to intervene and bring about a positive resolution but, through his observance, he is at least filled with hope that Holly has the potential to enjoy a happy resolution to her story, even if he cannot ever confirm it. Holly, as ever, exists in a vague space between hope and reality which she can only define for herself.
Unlock all 47 pages of this Study Guide
Plus, gain access to 9,150+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Truman Capote
