Through his detailed description, Capote is able to develop
the characters’ memorable personality. Holly Golightly, the main
character, is a 19 year old glamour girl, who’s only sources of income
are "tips" from rich gentlemen for the powder room and weekly visits to
Sally Tomato (a man in prison for Mafia activity). Holly has so many
unique personality traits readers don’t know whether to call her a heroine
or a tramp. Just her name Holiday Golightly is light and celebrated;
describing her character very well. Holly expresses her beliefs and
opinions (though called "horseshit on a platter" by some of the other characters)
throughout the story, and each one gives the reader an idea of the kind
of person Holly is:
| "Listen. You know those says when you’ve got the mean reds?"
"Same as the blues?" "No," she said slowly. "No the blues are because you’re getting fat or maybe it’s been raining too long. You’re just sad, that’s all. But the mean reds are horrible. You’re afraid and you sweat like hell, but you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Except something bad is going to happen, only you don’t know what it is. You’ve had that feeling?" "Quite often. Some people call it ‘angst’" "All right. ‘Angst’. But what do you do about it?" "Well, a drink helps." "I’ve tried that. I’ve tried aspirin, too…What I’ve found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany’s. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there… " (Capote, page 41) |
Throughout the story readers find themselves falling in
love with Holly’s character, then despising her for something she did or
said. In this conversation between Holly Golightly and Paul
Varjak (the other main character), we see Holly’s creative solution to
what she calls "the mean reds". In the telling of what Holly considers
the "mean reds" and how she solves it, the reader understands how We also
see Holly’s high admiration of the jewelry store Tiffany’s. This,
along with Holly’s trips to Sing Sing, her nameless cat, and sparkling
personality, create a interesting and unforgettable character; and in turn,
making an interesting and unforgettable story.
Each one of Capote’s character’s has descriptive
and unusual traits, both personal and personality, and tied-in with his
bizarre but almost heartwarming story-line, he makes a exceptional tale.
Capote’s creative story-line, description, and dialogue, along with his
creative main characters, originate a sparkling romance not soon to be
forgotten.