Self-Actualization In Truman Capote's Breakfast At Tiffany

Commonly, people spend their whole lives trying to find themselves, constantly being stopped by society, recommending they follow what the “crowd” is doing. In the mid-1900s it was no different. Many struggled to overcome this challenge and to stray from the thought of social status and hierarchy. Truman Capote’s novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s exemplifies this through the character Holly Golightly. She struggles to find real friends and a solidified place in the bustling city of New York. Breakfast at Tiffany’s delves into the complexities of self-actualization using Holly Golightly to analyze female social viewpoints and the journey to find meaning in a superficial world.

The American novelist Truman Capote emerged into the world of literature,

However, if one was to thoroughly understand Holly’s personality they would realize she is far from toxic. This is shown by how well she knows herself and how aware she is. She talks about honesty and being true to yourself. “Good things only happen to you if you're honest. I sometimes break the law but I'm honest to myself. I don't tell myself lies. It's better to have a terrible painful sickness than a dishonest heart” (Capote). Holly’s awareness to be genuine and not stray from the truth gives hints at the complexity but also sensible of her nature. She is very conscious of herself in that way which causes the reader to question what is really happening in her

One of these is displayed through her Cat, which goes un-named throughout the book. The cat acts as a metaphor for how Holly feels she fits into society, even though she has a name that is well known. As the author of “Philosophical Insights from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’” likes to describe this relation, “They belong to nobody and nobody belongs to them” (Jastrzebska). Holly’s cat is a constant reminder of their lack of belonging and absence of a solidified home. Another metaphor that some have noticed is that Capote is likely portrayed through the characters he created. A common belief is that he displayed through the narrator. The two share the trait of being or once being aspiring writers. In an article reviewing the novel, the author writes, “The story goes like this: as unnamed narrator (who we understand to be very similar to Capote) lives in an apartment complex in New York City in the 1940s and is a struggling/beginning writer” (Flaherty). Here, Flaherty sees the two as similar through their traits. In spite of this statement, it seems that Capote is better prorated through Holly. Both struggled to find a place in society. Capote experienced backlash for being gay at the time it was highly frowned upon, and Holly is seen as a young attention-seeking girl who thrives on male attention. Through these times though, both people stayed true to themselves. In the