Tiffany’s and the Promise of Calm

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Tiffany’s functions as Holly’s imagined refuge, while the people and relationships around her show how difficult it is to find comparable safety in ordinary life.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Storefront of Order A Storefront of Order from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Quiet Behind Glass The Visit by Taxi Holly says she goes to Tiffany & Co. when she feels the mean reds.

A Storefront of Order from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Quiet Behind Glass The Visit by Taxi Holly says she goes to Tiffany & Co. when she feels the mean reds.

Quiet Behind Glass The Visit by Taxi Holly says she goes to Tiffany & Co. when she feels the mean reds. The store’s calm and deliberate atmosphere interrupt her fear. Safety as an Experience She does not claim jewelry is the reason. What matters is the feeling that she can remain unthreatened in an orderly place.

A Real-Life Equivalent A Real-Life Equivalent from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". The Wish for a Home Furniture and a Cat’s Name Holly imagines that if she found a real place with Tiffany’s sense of calm, she would buy furniture and name her…

A Real-Life Equivalent from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". The Wish for a Home Furniture and a Cat’s Name Holly imagines that if she found a real place with Tiffany’s sense of calm, she would buy furniture and name her…

The Wish for a Home Furniture and a Cat’s Name Holly imagines that if she found a real place with Tiffany’s sense of calm, she would buy furniture and name her cat. The domestic details make the wish concrete. A Threshold Not Crossed She can picture belonging but cannot yet identify where it exists. The store becomes a measure by which every possible home is judged.

The Birdcage’s Beauty The Birdcage’s Beauty from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". An Object Admired A Palace of Bamboo The narrator shows Holly a costly birdcage that he has admired in a shop window.

The Birdcage’s Beauty from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". An Object Admired A Palace of Bamboo The narrator shows Holly a costly birdcage that he has admired in a shop window.

An Object Admired A Palace of Bamboo The narrator shows Holly a costly birdcage that he has admired in a shop window. Its elaborate design delights her even as she calls it a cage. Beauty with a Limit Her response separates the pleasure of an object from the freedom of a living creature. The distinction anticipates her unease about both ownership and home.

The Christmas Gift The Christmas Gift from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". A Refuge Given Away A Lavish Present Holly buys the narrator the birdcage he could not afford.

The Christmas Gift from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". A Refuge Given Away A Lavish Present Holly buys the narrator the birdcage he could not afford.

A Refuge Given Away A Lavish Present Holly buys the narrator the birdcage he could not afford. Her generosity shows that she can invest in another person’s happiness even while resisting possessions for herself. Freedom Preserved She insists he never put a living thing inside. The gift offers beauty without turning it into captivity, much as she wants affection without a claim upon her.

A Postcard Near Enough A Postcard Near Enough from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Buenos Aires Almost A New Measure Holly writes that Buenos Aires is almost like Tiffany & Co.

A Postcard Near Enough from "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Buenos Aires Almost A New Measure Holly writes that Buenos Aires is almost like Tiffany & Co.

Buenos Aires Almost A New Measure Holly writes that Buenos Aires is almost like Tiffany & Co. The comparison suggests that she has found a place offering some of the calm she once sought. Not Quite Home She is still looking for somewhere to live and gives no address. Even her most promising report stops short of claiming that she belongs there.

During Holly’s autumn conversation with the narrator

During the same conversation

During the narrator’s summer walk with Holly

Christmas Eve

The spring after Holly disappears