PARAGRAPH 1- BIRD CAGE o Symbol for Holly o Holly first set her eyes on the birdcage which the narrator adored when walking past an antique shop in New York. o She appreciates 'it 's fantasy: "but still, it 's a cage" and therefore Holly does not like it. o The audience and narrator are first exposed to Hollys hate towards confinement when she avoids the idea of going near the zoo as "she couldn 't bear to see anything in a cage". o Through the theme of freedom in Breakfast at Tiffanies, Truman Capote helps to explore the ownership characters feel and the other ways this is displayed within the novella. Freedom is something which always remained relevant and important throughout Hollys life. o Since a young age she had been 'free ', never …show more content…
He tamed a crow, taught it to say Holly 's name, which at the time was Lulamae, and gave it to her. After she ran away, the crow reverted to being wild and (if Doc is to be believed), the crow called out her name from the woods. Doc also tried to help injured wild birds, including a hawk. Holly compares herself to a wild thing, impossible to tame. She tells Joe Bell that Doc 's efforts were doomed to fail because a wild thing will always fly off in the end. The crow and the hawk are therefore symbolic of Holly herself. She will not be domesticated; her true nature will always reassert itself. o I tamed her a crow and taught it to say her name" o "The crow I give her went wild and flew away. All summer you could hear him. In the yard. In the garden. In the woods. All summer that damned bird was calling: Lulamae, Lulamae." "Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell," Holly advised him. "That was Doc 's mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can 't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger theyget. Until they 're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That 's how you 'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You 'll end up looking at the sky." Holly has a wild personality much like the animals …show more content…
o "We just met by the river one day: that 's all. Independents, both of us. We never made each other any promises" o By not naming the cat, Holly feels that she is also not 'owned ' and remain free, however this change when Holly lets the cat out of the car when she leaves for Brazil, as at that moment she feels instant regret and lost, as she realises that they "did belong to each other. He was [hers]". o After looking for the cat which she had just released, she is unable to find him, leaving the task to the narrator to track it down. o Eventually finding the cat, the narrator takes care of it as he sees it as a symbol for Holly, hoping that now like the cat, she had found somewhere she belongs too. The formalist perspective helps to analysis the symbol of the cat within the novella being Holly. This is due to the cat helping to convey the message of Holly always waiting to be independent or belong to anyone, much like the