Fred: the narrator

When reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote, many people criticize Holly Golightly and see her in a negative light. However, this may be a result of the narrator. Truman Capote uses the narrator, whom Holly refers to as “Fred”, to tell Holly’s story. Thus, readers only see the novel through Fred’s eyes.

            With Fred as narrator, readers only read about the things Fred does, hears, or sees. Any private conversations that Holly has without Fred are lost to the readers. Thus, the only ‘side’ of her that readers can see is the one that Fred tells us. Of course, Fred does eavesdrop on a few of her conversations, such as the one she has with Mag Wildwood sitting on the fire escape. Other than this, most conversations the reader is privy to include or involve Fred. Therefore, the reader doesn’t know how Holly acts when she’s with somebody else. An omnipresent narrator would have been able to depict every detail of Holly’s life. If she went to a party, her interactions there would have been a part of the novel and thus may have affected the readers’ perceptions of Holly. The narrator, however, is one of Holly’s friends.

The narrator, himself, is a character with the novel. Due to this, he can’t know Holly’s private thoughts or justifications. If the novel had been told in first person, the novel would have been drastically changed. Fred only sees Holly’s actions. He is present for her odd schedule and various callers. However, he doesn’t receive justifications for why she did something. He is told that she went through foster care, was a child wife, and ran away, but other than that, he doesn’t know much about her. The only time she feels the need to justify her actions is after Doc visits. Fred draws many of his own conclusions about who she is and why, further influencing the readers.

Finally, the readers opinions are also swayed based on Holly’s treatment of Fred. It is obvious from the beginning that Fred is obsessed with Holly. He looks at her trash and keeps track of her hours. When she decides that she loves José, he beings referring to him as ‘that man’. Despite all of this, Holly doesn’t seem to really care about him. During a conversation with Mag Wildwood she says that all he wants is to be on the inside. She tends to take his presence for granted. After they have a big fight, when Fred knocks on her door, she assumes it’s to make up and tells him they can have a drink the next day. She never thought the fight was her fault or that she should be the one to apologize. She simply assumed he’d be the one who tried to fix things. Furthermore, both the beginning and the end of the novel suggest that Holly has forgotten him. She sends him one postcard after she leaves; that is it. He knows she has been to Africa and hopes that she found a home, but he doesn’t know for sure because she doesn’t write.

Overall, Fred, as a narrator, succeeds in influencing the readers against Holly despite being in love with her, himself.