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The Birdcage
Because Holly refuses to admit that she’s emotionally connected to it, the nameless cat that she finds and takes into her home epitomizes her unwillingness to attach herself to her current life. Throughout the novella, Holly emphasizes that neither she nor the cat “belong” to each other, wanting everyone to know that she and the animal are both fiercely independent. In keeping with this mindset, she forces the cat to run away on the streets of Spanish Harlem just before she flees the country, ultimately trying to prove to herself that it will be easy to part with the most important aspects of her life in the United States. However, Holly immediately regrets this decision, realizing after driving several blocks that she and the cat truly did have a meaningful connection and that just because she never named the animal doesn’t mean she wasn’t emotionally attached to it. In turn, the cat represents the fact that people inevitably become connected to elements of their lives without even realizing it, since it’s nearly impossible not to form emotional relationships while going through everyday life—no matter what kind of existence a person leads.
The Cat Quotes in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
The Breakfast at Tiffany’s quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Cat. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Quotes
“Rusty thinks I should smoke marijuana, and I did for a while, but it only makes me giggle. What I’ve found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany’s. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits, and that lovely smell of silver and alligator wallets. If I could find a real-life place that made me feel like Tiffany’s, then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name.”
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Flanked by potted plants and framed by clean lace curtains, he was seated in the window of a warm-looking room: I wondered what his name was, for I was certain he had one now, certain he’d arrived somewhere he belonged. African hut or whatever, I hope Holly has, too.
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Get the entire Breakfast at Tiffany’s LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Cat Symbol Timeline in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Cat appears in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
...He also learns that she reads tabloids and astrology columns, smokes Picayune cigarettes, has a cat, and likes to play the guitar on her fire escape on nice days. When she...
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...wake up and “have breakfast at Tiffany’s.” As Holly says this, she holds her nameless cat, explaining that she found him walking by the river. Both she and this cat, she...
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...later eavesdrops as Mag and Holly sit out on the fire escape with the nameless cat. Mag tells Holly that she’s lucky because Rusty is, at the very least, American. This...
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...the officer slapped her. On her way out, Holly asked the narrator to feed her cat in her absence.
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...morning, Holly is still in jail. The narrator goes to her apartment to feed her cat, slipping in through the window. Once inside, he finds José’s cousin, who has also come...
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...her jewelry, guitar, clothes, toiletries, and a 100-year-old bottle of brandy. She also wants the cat, who tries to evade the narrator. Finally, though, the narrator manages to bring all of...
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...but Holly tells the driver to stop in Spanish Harlem. Getting out, she sets the cat on the curb and tells him to go away. In response, he rubs up against...
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The cat is no longer where Holly left him. Regretting her decision, she cries out that she...
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...feels “haunted.” Most of all, though, he wants to tell Holly that he found her cat. For weeks after Holly left, the narrator went to Spanish Harlem to search for the...
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