Key West

Key West is a stop in Holly Golightly’s winter travels with Rusty Trawler, Mag Wildwood, and José Ybarra-Jaegar, and the point to which she returns after a series of mishaps. In her account, it is both a practical waypoint and the setting for other people’s assumptions about her relationship with José.

Place in the Journey

Holly says the group went to Key West during a February trip. Rusty became involved in a confrontation with sailors and, as Holly tells it, would have to wear a spine brace for the rest of his life. Mag was hospitalized with first-degree sunburn and severe blistering. Holly describes the group’s time there as tense, but does not give further details about the town itself.

The Return with José

Holly says she and José left Rusty and Mag in the hospital and went to Havana. José urged her to look forward to Rio de Janeiro, while Holly says Havana already had her enthusiasm. After the pair returned to Key West, Mag was convinced Holly had spent the trip sleeping with José; Rusty also suspected it, though Holly says he chiefly wanted to hear the details. She reports that matters remained strained until she had a candid conversation with Mag.

Narrative Significance

Key West enters the story through Holly’s brisk, comic recollection rather than through a description of its landscape or community. The account moves rapidly from Rusty’s injury and Mag’s sunburn to the pair’s departure for Havana and the suspicions that greeted their return. The place thus serves as the itinerary’s hinge: the group’s shared trip becomes a source of conflict and gossip, while Holly presents herself as the teller who can make its complications sound entertaining.